Empty gas tank leads to arrest of woman suspected of stealing car, rum in Washington City

Stock image by Cody Blowers, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — A woman is in jail on multiple charges after officers in Washington City found a stolen vehicle abandoned on Green Springs Drive, and then arrested the suspect who approached with a gas can and allegedly told officers the car was hers.

File photo for illustrative purposes only of Washington City Police officers responding to an incident near Red Robin in Washington City, Utah, Oct. 22, 2021 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News

On Wednesday, a patrol officer in Washington City noticed a vehicle, a 2013 Volkswagen Tiguan, that was unoccupied and stopped on Green Springs Drive with its hazard lights on.

Washington City Police Lt. Kory Klotz told St. George News that officers noticed the car and flipped around to check on the vehicle. Finding it empty, they ran the license plate that came back “with nothing,” he said.

It was when officers ran the VIN number through emergency dispatch that it came back as stolen, and just as they were confirming the status of the vehicle, he said, a woman approached with a gas can and told them it was her car.

When asked, the suspect gave a false name, Klotz said, and then refused to identify herself altogether, which is when officers found an ID card in the vehicle that identified the driver as 40-year-old Angela Kai Davis.

Meanwhile, multiple units were called to the scene when officers learned there were possibly other suspects involved. Officers then ran the license plate, which showed it belonged on a 2010 Infinite G37 that was registered to Davis.

When officers told the suspect she was being arrested for the stolen vehicle, Davis became combative, Klotz said, as she pulled away and began resisting being taken into custody. Multiple officers became involved in a scuffle while attempting to handcuff the woman.

After a short tussle, he said, the suspect was arrested for felony vehicle theft.

The car was reported as stolen in St. George on May 28 when employees of a used car lot called authorities saying one of their vehicles turned up missing. As such, officers from St. George also responded to the scene on Green Springs Drive on Wednesday.

According to charging documents filed with the court, the dealership called to report the theft when they realized one of their vehicles, a 2013 Volkswagen Tiguan, had been stolen from the lot.

Officers arrived to learn from staff there was no record of the vehicle leaving the lot on a test drive, nor was it removed for any other reason — it was just gone, the police report said. An investigation was opened and the car was listed in the national crime database as stolen.

Officers in St. George also matched the vehicle to an incident reported hours earlier, when emergency dispatch received a call from the Utah State Liquor store on 900 East reporting a theft shortly after 1:30 that same day.

When officers arrived and spoke to the staff, they learned that a suspect, later identified as Davis, had entered the store three separate times. The most recent was hours before the incident on Green Springs Drive, when the suspect took a $45 bottle of rum off the shelf and then walked out the door without paying for the item.

An officer later recognized the woman from a still photo captured by the liquor store’s security system and identified the suspect as Davis.

During the first two incidents, officers learned, the woman was seen loading several bottles of alcohol into a box. As she was exiting the store, she told store employees that she as picking the order up for a restaurant located nearby.

2019 file photo of Utah State Liquor Store in St. George, Utah, March 29, 2019 | Photo by Joseph Witham, St. George News

The first incident occurred on May 24 and by Wednesday, the suspect allegedly stole more than $285 in alcohol from the store. Officers also learned the suspect reportedly made multiple attempts to steal alcohol from the store over the course of several days, but only three were successful.

Officers obtained a home address for Davis and responded to the residence. However, they arrived to learn they had missed the suspect by 10 minutes.

In the meantime, officers at the scene on Green Springs Drive questioned Davis about the stolen vehicle report, during which she told police that her uncle, “Paul Smith” had picked her up in the Volkswagen and said she was completely unaware the car was stolen. She also denied ever driving the car, but later admitted to “driving it just a little bit,” the report states.

Later, she reportedly told officers the car was not hers, but said she had been driving it for the past five days.

During a search of the car, officers located a number of personal items and several documents belonging to the suspect. Inside the glove compartment, they found a license plate and several court documents with the suspect’s name on them, the report said.

They also recovered an open bottle of rum that matched the brand stolen from the liquor store in St. George hours earlier.

The suspect was then transported to Purgatory Correctional Facility and booked into jail facing one second-degree felony count of receiving or possession of a stolen vehicle, along with five misdemeanor charges including communications fraud, theft, an open container charge, a plate violation and possession of paraphernalia.

Davis recently made headlines in April when officers in Washington City found the suspect in a vehicle on Red Hills Parkway shortly after 8:30 a.m., when she was placed under arrest on active warrants — one of which was filed in connection with a child abuse case involving the alleged abuse a toddler filed last year.

2019 file photo for illustrative purposes on of Washington City Police responding to Red Hills Drive, Washington City, Utah, Feb. 21, 2019 | File photo courtesy of the Washington City Police Department, St. George News

During the stop, officers also learned that Davis had left her two small children at home alone, and as Davis was being transported to jail detectives went to the suspect’s home to check on the children, ages 1 and 3, and arrived to find the toddlers alone inside of the unit.

Authorities also contacted the youngsters’ father who arrived shortly thereafter to pick up the children, while the incident was also reported to the Division of Child and Family Services for follow-up.

Davis was later charged with one third-degree felony charge of reckless or intentional abuse or neglect of a disabled child, as well as other misdemeanor charges. That case is still pending in the courts.

Following the arrest Wednesday, the suspect was formally charged with felony theft of a vehicle and made an initial appearance in court the following day. She remains in custody on $10,000 bail.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2022, all rights reserved.

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