Suspect out on bond on burglary case appears in court on new kidnapping, assault charges

Composite image with background stock photo and overlay of Washington County Sheriff's Office patrol vehicle | Photo by Cody Blowers, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — A St. George man is facing charges of kidnapping and assault following his arrest last month. The case was filed while the suspect was out on bond awaiting trial on a similar case of aggravated burglary and robbery filed last year.

Zeshawn Durrani, 37, was scheduled to appear Tuesday for a roll call hearing on felony kidnapping and aggravated assault charges filed following an incident in which Durrani reportedly assaulted a woman at a residence in Diamond Valley.

According to charging documents filed with the court, the woman wanted to leave the residence following a verbal altercation with the suspect, which is when he reportedly held her inside of the home and beat her head against the ground, struck her with a broom and choked her to the point she blacked out.

The suspect allegedly took the woman’s cell phone and broke it and then threw it in the trash. A short while later, she was able to leave the house and drive to the police department to report the incident.

Police noted that the woman had multiple injuries to her head, face and throat, wounds that were consistent with her account of what took place.

Zeshawn Qamar Durrani, of St. George, Utah, booking photo posted in Washington County, Utah, July 25, 2020 | File photo courtesy of Washington County Sheriff’s Office, St George News

The case was assigned to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, and six days after the incident, Durrani was located, arrested and charged.

At the time of the September arrest, the suspect was on pretrial release on a case filed last year involving second-degree felony aggravated burglary and robbery charges following his arrest for a similar incident reported in St. George.

The incident was reported July 27, 2020, when a Utah Highway Patrol trooper informed emergency dispatch that a woman reported a burglary at a residence where she was staying.

Court records indicate that the woman told police she had picked up a man who went by the name of “Raz” and while the two were drinking at the residence, the suspect “started acting weird and freaking out,” so she asked the man to leave.

When the suspect refused, the report states, she pushed him out of the home and then quickly shut the door. Minutes later the suspect ripped out the screen to the window and climbed through it and then reportedly jumped on top of the woman.

He allegedly grabbed her by the hair and slammed her head against the ground multiple times. He then reportedly reached into the woman’s clothing and grabbed her iPhone before fleeing the residence out of the same window.

Officers responded to the suspect’s residence on Valley View Drive, where they found Durrani and took him into custody facing first-degree felony aggravated burglary and robbery charges. He was released from jail two days later after posting $3,000 bond. The case is still moving through the courts and is slated for trial.

Durrani has remained in custody since his arrest Sept. 26.

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.

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