CEDAR CITY — Five people were arrested after Iron County Metro SWAT officers raided a property in the Beryl area of western Iron County on Wednesday morning.
Arrested were Robert Clay Wilson, 64, William Scott Johnson, 42, Lisa Damarto, 54, Kendra Desoto, 51, and Heather Campbell, 41.
As of Friday morning, both Wilson and Johnson remain in custody in Iron County Jail, while the three women, who were each booked on misdemeanor drug charges, have been released.
According to the probable cause statements filed in support of the arrests, investigators had obtained a warrant to search a property in the Beryl area, based on a tip regarding a skid steer loader that had been reported stolen from a nearby property owner.
SWAT officers arrived at the property and found the skid steer in question, along with a 24-foot travel trailer and a Jeep that had also been reported stolen.
As the individuals were being detained and the property was searched, investigators reportedly found methamphetamine, marijuana, drug paraphernalia and four guns.
Iron County Sheriff’s Lt. David Mitchell told Cedar City News on Friday that the two men were arrested in connection with the stolen property, drug and weapons charges, while the three women were arrested on unrelated outstanding warrants.
Mitchell said more information would be forthcoming. He noted that additional warrants are still being served in connection with the ongoing investigation.
According to his charging documents, Wilson faces two counts of receiving or transferring a stolen vehicle, a second-degree felony, and two counts of firearm possession by a restricted person, a third-degree felony, in addition to misdemeanor charges of possession of drugs and paraphernalia.
Similarly, Johnson faces four felony counts of possession of a firearm by a restricted person, along with one felony count of theft by receiving stolen property and misdemeanor drug and paraphernalia charges.
Johnson and Desoto both face an additional charge of interfering with an arrest, a class B misdemeanor, since they allegedly did not come out of their trailer when commanded to do so.
“The Iron County Metro SWAT team began giving announcements to all individuals inside the compound,” their charging documents state, adding that deputies had to break a window to gain access to the trailer.
This report is based on statements from court documents and law enforcement officials 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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