ST. GEORGE — A Hurricane woman along with two men are facing felony charges following an unrelated suspicious person call in St. George that led to the discovery of a document inside a backpack.
The document listed a pickup truck reported as stolen from a repair shop located less than a mile away.
Officers were dispatched to an automotive repair shop in St. George on a business burglary on April 13. They arrived to learn that a white 2005 Chevrolet Silverado had been stolen from the shop, along with tools, hammer drills and other equipment.
Two days later, officers were dispatched to a suspicious person call involving an individual in the parking lot of a St. George auto sales dealership on South Bluff who was later identified as 34-year-old Travis Fletcher.
Officers found a traffic citation listing the stolen Chevrolet during a search of the suspect’s backpack.
When asked about the citation, Fletcher told police he had gotten it from a friend, named Stephanie, who lived in Hurricane. Fletcher was arrested on felony drug charges as well as for a warrant issued on a drug case filed in January. Officers also learned Fletcher had an open forgery case filed the week before.
The background check also revealed an address for Fletcher located on North 1100 East in St. George, which officers responded to shortly thereafter. Police encountered two men in front of the house — Jason James Hollick, 38, and John Larson. Standing nearby was Stephanie Renee Pronto, 31, of Hurricane.
When the officer explained to the trio that documents connected to a stolen truck were located in Fletcher’s backpack, the report states, Larson said he did not know anyone named Fletcher and also denied having any knowledge of a stolen truck.
The officer left the residence and was parked nearby as he conducted a records search on the suspects, including Hollick, whom the officer recognized from prior involvements with law enforcement and was aware the suspect had five outstanding warrants for his arrest.
Meanwhile, the officer watched as a vehicle with two occupants pulled out of the residence on North 1100 East, one of whom was Larson. When the officer stopped the vehicle, he learned that Hollick was still at the residence waiting for the officer to clear the area so the suspect could leave.
When police returned to the home they watched as a driver operating a white Chevrolet Silverado pulled out and drove away from the home. Officers made a second traffic stop and found Pronto driving the vehicle and Hollick in the passenger seat; he was ordered out of the pickup and placed under arrest on the outstanding warrants.
In the meantime, officers noticed a toolbox and tools matching the description of the items reportedly stolen two days before from the vehicle parked at the repair shop in Washington City, along with the two power drills recovered during a search of the vehicle.
The truck owner was contacted and described in detail all of the items in the SUV at the time it was reportedly stolen and also told officers he had the key that would unlock the toolbox.
During questioning, Pronto told police she had gone to the residence earlier that same day to purchase tools “from someone at the house but would not specify from who,” noted the officer, adding the suspect also told officers she thought the tools were stolen “but purchased them anyway.”
Pronto was arrested and booked into jail on third-degree felony possession of stolen property.
Hollick has yet to be formally charged following the arrest on Friday, while charges against Pronto were filed on Monday and she was released from jail later that same day.
Fletcher, the owner of the backpack where the citation leading officers to the stolen Silverado was found, was arrested on Friday morning and booked into jail on felony drug charges.
Larson was not arrested nor charged in the incident.
Meanwile, Pronto has another open case filed in February following a traffic stop in the parking lot of a restaurant on St. George after an officer noticed a vehicle in the area of Main Street and 100 south swerving in and out of its travel lane shortly after 10 p.m. She showed signs of impairment and was administered a field sobriety test, which the report states she failed, and she was arrested for suspected DUI.
Meanwhile, the rear passenger left the scene in the middle of the traffic stop, later found to have felony warrants and he was apprehended shortly after by other officers.
During a search of the suspect prior to transport officers recovered a baggie of suspected methamphetamine, a pipe and multiple debit cards that Pronto claimed she had permission to use. When officers contacted one of the account holders, however, they learned the card belonged to the owner’s father who had died the previous December, who also told police no one was authorized to have the card.
Pronto then told officers that “someone else” gave her the cards and only said it was the man she had been traveling with who had fled midway through the traffic stop. That suspect was later apprehended by authorities.
Pronto was charged with two third-degree felony charges of unlawful acquisition of a financial card as well as the DUI and misdemeanor drug-related charges. A preliminary hearing has been scheduled in that case to take place on May 22 in St. George.
Hollick was transported to jail in Washington County on the outstanding warrants, one of which was filed in connection with a similar case involving a stolen vehicle at the end of November.
In that case, officers stopped a vehicle in St. George on Nov. 23, 2021, and found four financial cards that were reportedly taken from a Ford pickup truck that was reported as stolen. The truck had been found abandoned in St. George earlier that day. The officer also noted a Ford key attached to a lanyard that matched the description of the key described by the pickup owner – a key consistent with the type that would be issued on a Ford truck.
While speaking to police, Hollick said another man had given him the credit cards and key to the Ford, and went on to say while he thought the key and bank cards may have been stolen, he took no part in the theft. The suspect was later charged with five third-degree felony offenses in connection with the case.
The November report also outlined Hollick’s extensive criminal history in multiple states that included convictions for burglary, theft and possessing another person’s financial transaction cards. Moreover, the suspect was out on bail at the time of the arrest, which was one of three involving a stolen vehicle since August of last year.
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.
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