ST. GEORGE —A Southern California couple is being held without bail in Washington County after a report of retail theft in Washington City led to the recovery of a stolen Jeep out of Los Angeles, police say.
On Monday, officers responded to Walmart on Telegraph Street in Washington City on a report of a retail theft involving two individuals that reportedly left the store with stolen merchandise and drove off in a black Jeep.
According to charging documents filed in 5th District Court, just as the Jeep was about to exit the parking lot, officers spotted the vehicle and conducted a traffic stop near The Home Depot.
Both suspects got out of the Jeep and were told they were being detained. The driver was identified as Raymond Jimenez, 40, of Los Angeles, California, and the passenger, who reportedly told the officer she had no identification on her, said her name was Alicia Garcia. She later admitted to using another individual’s name and was identified as 33-year-old Katelyn Beth Gilbert, also from the area of Los Angeles.
During a search of Jimenez, police say they found a magnetic strip device, commonly used to remove security devices that will sound an alarm if merchandise is stolen, and a wallet containing a credit card and driver’s license issued to an individual who was not the suspect.
A second magnetic strip device was reportedly found during a search of Gilbert’s purse.
In the meantime, a Walmart loss prevention agent provided officers with a printed inventory receipt listing the items that the suspects reportedly scanned at the self-checkout counter, and after the merchandise was bagged, the suspects “pretended to use the tap and go application” on Jimenez’s cellphone to pay for the merchandise.
Before completing the transaction, however, the agent said the suspect declined the transaction and left the store without paying for the items, the report states.
The store’s security system also captured video of the two suspects inside the store using the magnetic devices to remove the security devices before making their way to the self-checkout counter.
A K-9 officer was deployed to conduct a free-air sniff around the vehicle, and after indicating the possible presence of narcotics, the Jeep was searched.
In the back cargo area of the vehicle, officers recovered more than $880 in merchandise with price tags indicating the items came from Walmart, the report states, adding that these items were later returned to the store.
Officers also noticed that the vehicle identification number located just below the windshield was covered with black electrical tape, leading to a suspicion the Jeep was stolen. After locating the vehicle registration information, officers confirmed the vehicle was reported as stolen out of Los Angeles.
When asked, both suspects reportedly denied any knowledge that the Jeep was stolen and told officers they had borrowed the Jeep from an individual on Facebook Marketplace and were paying a daily fee for use of the vehicle.
According to the affidavit, both suspects also denied stealing any merchandise from Walmart, stating “their cell phone must have died prior to the transaction being completed,” the officer noted.
Jimenez and Gilbert were arrested and booked into Purgatory Correctional Facility. Each faces second-degree felony theft and two misdemeanor charges that include retail theft and possession of a theft detection removal device.
Jimenez also faces a third-degree felony charge of unlawful acquisition of a financial card and misdemeanor drug and paraphernalia possession for a methamphetamine pipe, while Gilbert faces an additional misdemeanor charge for providing false information to a police officer. Both were formally charged with the offenses on Monday and they remain in custody without 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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