Police arrest man selling meth on St. George Boulevard

Stock image | Photo by YakobchukOlena, iStock / Getty Images Plus; St. George News

ST. GEORGE – Reports of someone allegedly trying to sell drugs to people by a store on St. George Boulevard resulted in a St. George man’s arrest Saturday.

Witnesses stated the male was approaching and trying to sell drugs to at least three different people,” according to a probable cause statement sworn by a St. George Police officer supporting the arrest.

The man, identified as 29-year-old Justin Bradley Stringham, started walking westward on St. George Boulevard when he was recognized by a passing police officer due to previous encounters.

Justin Bradley Stringham, of St. George, Utah, booksing photo, May 5, 2018 | Photo courtesy of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, St. George News

The officer made contact with Stringham and began to tell him why he was there yet was unable to finish his sentence as Stringham quickly denied any wrongdoing.

The officer detained Stringham who said he knew his rights and refused to cooperate while also becoming visibly nervous, according to the probable cause statement.

“He started backing away from me then yelled something incoherent as he pulled a baggie out of his pocket,” the responding officer wrote. The baggie appeared to be filled with a white substance the officer believed to be methamphetamine.

The officer grabbed Stringham as he attempted to throw the baggie, but dropped it instead. The officer was able to restrain Stringham who was compliant and subsequently placed in handcuffs when another officer arrived on the scene.

A search of Stringham’s person produced a meth pipe and other alleged drug paraphernalia, as well as baggies believed to contain methamphetamine, heroin and marijuana.

The amount of suspected methamphetamine found on Stringham “was more than what I have seen as ‘personal use,’ quantity,” the officer wrote in the probable cause statement.

After being made aware of his rights, Stringham admitted to using some of the meth an hour prior, as well as trying to sell drugs to people by the business on St. George Boulevard. He said he was able to sell to at least one of the people he had approached.

Stringham was booked into the Washington County Purgatory Correctional Facility and has since been charged with two first-degree felony counts of drug possession with intent to distribute. He was also charged with an additional felony for obstructing justice and a misdemeanor for possession of drug paraphernalia.

Due to having a series of prior drug offense convictions over the last decade, the two felony counts of drug possession with intent to distribute were enhanced, or raised, to the level of a first-degree felony, according to the probable cause statement.

Stringham is set to appear in 5th District Court May 14 before Judge John Walton.

Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @MoriKessler

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2018, all rights reserved.

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5 Comments

  • comments May 10, 2018 at 10:11 am

    “well hello ma’am. how are you today? would you like to buy some meth?”

    • RadRabbit May 10, 2018 at 5:36 pm

      LOL my thoughts exactly

  • comments May 10, 2018 at 10:13 am

    when they’re high on the meth they don’t even realize how insane they’re acting. all good judgement out the window.

  • McMurphy May 10, 2018 at 11:03 am

    Zoning violation? Not allowed to sell drugs on the blvd.

  • Jay June 9, 2018 at 9:06 pm

    I wasn’t selling to random people you stupid …* the news article makes it sound worse then it really was.you can’t always believe what is said on here.yes I’m the guy they arrested.

    * Ed. ellipsis added

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