ST. GEORGE — Following a report that a package had been stolen from the front porch of a residence, a battalion of local and federal officers descended upon a neighborhood off of Donlee Drive, leading to the arrest of a federal parolee and a probationer out of 5th District Court.
The arrests stem from an investigation that was launched Wednesday when an officer responded to a report of a package theft from a residence in St. George.
Officers arrived and spoke to the reporting party who said a woman had taken a package from the doorstep of his home and then left. The homeowner also said the incident was captured on video that was later turned over to police, according to charging documents filed in support of the arrests.
The officer noted in the report that the video “clearly shows” an orange Honda Element stop in front of the residence where a woman exited from the passenger’s side, walked to the doorstep and stole the Amazon package.
The woman also had multiple tattoos that were visible on the security footage, distinct markings that later helped to identify the suspect as 35-year-old Nichole Schibi, a St. George local who was also on federal parole after her release from a federal correctional facility in May, according to federal inmate records.
Officers learned through the federal parole office that Schibi lived at a residence on South Circle, which is off Donlee Drive in St. George. The address also was the one listed for the registered owner of the Honda that officers later confirmed was the same vehicle they saw parked in the area.
As the investigation continued, officers obtained information that identified a second suspect to the address off Donlee Drive as Lance Robert Shelton, 36, whose pickup was parked nearby. While officers were surveilling the residence, they learned from a ride-share driver that Shelton had requested a ride.
As it turns out, the report states, the request was canceled just as officers began knocking on Shelton’s door, but not in time to stop the driver who was already approaching the residence when the ride was canceled.
Being that Schibi was on parole through the Bureau of Prisons, federal parole agents responded to the address and “took over the home,” the officer noted.
The activity surrounding the residence caught the attention of several neighbors who took photos of the police presence that were then sent to St. George News and included in this report.
Once inside, both Schibi and Shelton were detained. Police say Schibi told the agents that she had “stolen boxes off of the front porches of homes” and also allege that Shelton drove Schibi to various locations in the Honda, where Schibi would take the packages while Shelton waited in the Honda. She also reportedly told agents she had done this “several times,” at multiple houses.
During a search of the home, officers recovered all items reportedly stolen during the package thefts, one of which was located in the living room in plain view, while the other items were hidden in trash cans and other areas.
Schibi asked for an attorney as soon as agents attempted to question her, while authorities say that Shelton told police that both Schibi and the Honda had been at the home over the last week, and during that time he had “driven Nichole around town,” but did not elaborate any further.
The admission led officers to suspect that Shelton had enough involvement in the incident to know he was assisting in the execution of the crime of mail theft, the report states, and both suspects were arrested and transported to Purgatory Correctional Facility and booked into jail on third-degree felony mail theft.
With Schibi on federal parole at the time of the arrest, she also was placed on a Bureau of Prison hold in connection with a federal case filed in 2019 involving a distribution of methamphetamine charge.
She was ordered to spend 33 months in federal prison during a sentencing hearing the following year, and upon her release, she was to be placed on post-prison supervision for five years, according to federal court records.
She was released from federal prison on May 6, after serving 25 months of a 33-month sentence and she was then placed on parole through the Bureau of Prisons, according to inmate records. Roughly seven months later, she was arrested twice in Washington County – the first of which was a drug arrest Dec. 15, followed by a second arrest last week on the mail theft.
Following the arrest Thursday, Schibi remains in custody without bail.
Shelton also was on active probation at the time of his arrest in connection with a case filed in March involving an attempted break-in that escalated into an altercation with police. He was later arrested and while being booked into jail, corrections staff reportedly found more than $2,000 in stolen property on the suspect, including items he was wearing, as well as seven credit cards that did not belong to him.
He was later charged with 10 offenses, eight of which were felony offenses, and all were related to theft and interference with a public servant.
Shelton pleaded guilty to two of the third-degree charges in May, one count each of unlawful acquisition of a financial card and theft by receiving stolen property, while the remaining charges were dismissed under the terms of the plea agreement. He was given credit for the two months he had served in jail, was fined $750 and ordered to pay $1,000 in restitution. He also was placed on two years’ probation.
Following the arrest Thursday, Shelton remains in custody on $4,000 bail.
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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