ST. GEORGE — A Salt Lake woman is in jail facing felony burglary after a call to 911 led officers to a home where they found the suspect still inside, with the homeowners’ belongings and furniture boxed and stacked near the front of the home as if in preparation for a move.
On Saturday, officers were dispatched to a residence in Ivins on what was initially reported as a trespassing call shortly before noon.
Santa Clara-Ivins Police Sgt. Jaron Studley told St. George News that while en route, officers learned that a suspect was still inside of the home, so they responded to the scene as a burglary in progress.
According to charging documents filed in support of the arrest, deputies with the Washington County Sheriff’s Office and officers in St. George were also called in to assist
The report states that officers entered the residence and found the suspect, later identified as 50-year-old Lisa Frampton, of Salt Lake City, sitting on the kitchen floor drinking a beer.
When the woman allegedly refused to comply with the officers’ commands, she was ordered out of the home and arrested at gunpoint, Studley said.
Officers found that all of the furniture had been moved and multiple household items were packed before being placed outside the front door, near the entrance of the home and also in the garage. Several firearms and ammunition were stacked near the front door as well, Studley said, along with a number of liquor bottles that were lined up along the kitchen counters.
“It basically appeared as if someone was moving out when officers got there,” he added.
All of this led officers to believe the suspect had been inside of the residence for several hours. Officers also found the home’s security system had been significantly damaged and disabled, which prevented the system from capturing any footage of the incident.
The man who called 911 told police he was the caretaker of the residence and was responsible for feeding the animals while the homeowners were away. He said when he arrived that morning, he noticed the household items stacked along the garage doors.
The caretaker said he confronted the suspect when he saw someone moving inside of the residence, at which point, Studley said, Frampton reportedly told him to “call the cops.”
Upon questioning, Frampton allegedly told officers it was actually the caretaker who was squatting on her property and that all of the items that were moved belonged to her.
Frampton was transported to Purgatory Correctional Facility facing two second-degree felony charges, including burglary of a dwelling and criminal mischief causing intentional damage, a charge submitted in connection with the amount of damage to the home security system.
She also faces misdemeanor theft and giving false information to a peace officer, since it took an extensive amount of time to finally identify the suspect. Studley said the woman initially told officers her name was Sunyl DeCaprio, which turned out to be false.
“It took quite a while to figure out who she actually was,” Studley added.
When contacted by phone, the homeowner told officers he observed the suspect come into the garage through an unlocked side door, likely before the security system was damaged, but Studley said the incident is still under investigation.
Police records indicate that Frampton was arrested for a similar incident in northern Utah on May 4, when officers in Bountiful responded to a residential burglary involving a woman who had climbed through a window to access the home.
Authorities had received multiple calls on the same suspect earlier in the day, the report states, reporting a woman walking through several backyards and acting strangely.
When officers arrived, they found the front door open and called out for the suspect to exit. A short time later the suspect was seen leaving through a back door, allegedly wearing clothing that belonged to the property owner. Frampton was taken to the hospital and medically cleared shortly thereafter and was transported to Davis County Jail and booked on second-degree burglary and two misdemeanor counts of theft.
That case is still pending in the courts.
In reference to the incident in Ivins, Studley said Frampton made several strange comments to officers at the scene, which led them to suspect the woman may have had a mental health issue, something that was also noted by the arresting officer in the Bountiful case.
With that in mind, Studley said the suspect’s actions appeared purposeful, and she appeared to have a goal in mind when she entered the home and then remained there for several hours.
Ed. Note: A new Utah law generally prohibits the release of arrest booking photos until after a conviction is obtained.
This report is based on statements from court records, police or other responders and may not contain the full scope of findings. Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.
Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2021, all rights reserved.