ST. GEORGE — Two men were arrested after the vehicle they were driving flew past a Utah Highway Patrol trooper heading north on Interstate 15 in Washington County – a high-performance muscle-car that turned out to be stolen out of Las Vegas, police say.
On Friday morning a UHP trooper heading north on I-15 noticed a Dodge Charger approaching from behind at a high rate of speed near the Bluff Street exit, according to charging documents filed with the court.
The trooper estimated the Charger’s speed at roughly 90 mph in a 70 mph posted speed zone, which was later confirmed by radar.
The car was stopped a few miles north of the St. George Boulevard exit, and when the trooper ran a registration check through the statewide database out of California, the results indicated the car had been reported as stolen three days before by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department in Nevada.
Once backup arrived, both occupants were ordered out of the vehicle at gunpoint. The occupants, both Colorado residents, were identified as 25-year-old Dan Shambui Kyungu, of Aurora, who handed the trooper his state-issued ID card, and the passenger, Jedu Dibwe, 23, of Denver, was identified by his Colorado Driver’s License.
With the suspects detained, officers inspected the vehicle and found the rear passenger side window completely broken out and several electronic components that appeared to have been exposed and tampered with.
St. George News reached out to UHP Trooper Grant Hintze, who said the suspects had an after-market key that would start the car, but was not the actual key fob that went with the vehicle. Consequently, the evidence obtained from the trunk area, as well as from the front compartment near the engine, where troopers found evidence suggesting that the covers to several electronic systems had been removed by the suspects who had to manipulate the electronics to get the car to start.
“Whoever stole the car got in after breaking that rear window,” Hintze said. “And from there they had a makeshift key to drive the vehicle.”
Hintze went on to explain the owner of the vehicle was visiting Las Vegas from his home in California when the car was stolen, which the trooper said was a 2008 black Dodge Charger Hellcat that appeared to have been very well taken care of and was in mint condition when it was recovered, other than the damage to the window and the electronics.
“The owner was very grateful to get the car back without any serious damage,” Hintze added.
The suspects were later interviewed by State Bureau of Investigation agents who advised the trooper that both suspects “had a knowledge of the vehicle’s status as being stolen,” but were likely not the ones who actually stole the car.
Following the interview, both were arrested and transported to Purgatory Correctional Facility facing second-degree felony count of receiving a stolen vehicle. The driver, Kyungu, also faced one misdemeanor count of driving without a license and a speeding – an infraction. The suspects are being held in jail on $10,000 bail each, while the case is currently under review by the Washington County Attorney’s Office.
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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