ST. GEORGE — A 29-year-old St. George man accused of burglarizing an unfinished home in Ivins has been charged with a second-degree felony for burglary.
Officers reportedly spotted the spoils of the alleged crime in the back of a pickup truck as they passed by the suspect’s residence.
Santa Clara-Ivins Police detectives were assigned a case last Wednesday involving the burglary of an unfinished home in Ivins the previous day, according to charging documents filed with the court.
The site’s security camera captured two men entering the uncompleted home where they removed several items, including a large tile saw, several concrete mixing drills and a mobile air conditioning unit.
Clips from the footage captured during the incident can be viewed at the top of this report.
Investigators identified one of the suspects as Cristian Jaramillo, 29, of St. George.
When officers drove past the suspect’ residence, they noted a pickup truck parked in front of the home and contained several items that matched the equipment reported as stolen from the unfinished home.
Armed with a search warrant, detectives returned to the suspect’s residence. Officers found a portable air conditioning unit that was plugged in with an intake duct through the window.
“The fact the A/C unit was set up in a manner to make it operational suggests Cristian intended to permanently deprive the owner of the property,” the investigator noted in the report.
Officers recovered from the pickup the remaining items that were later identified as the property taken during the break-in.
Also in the pickup, officers seized various crowbars and alleged burglary tools.
Following the search, the suspect was arrested and booked into Purgatory Correctional Facility and the following day, he was formally charged with second-degree felony burglary of a dwelling, third-degree felony theft and a misdemeanor charge for possessing burglary tools.
Bail was set at $5,000 and Jaramillo was released after posting a bond.
This is not the suspect’s first brush with the law.
The suspect was arrested during a traffic stop on northbound Interstate 15 a few miles north of the Port of Entry in the early morning hours of May 29, 2021.
When the suspect exited the vehicle, officers reportedly found a handgun in the waistband of the driver’s pants, along with a rifle and suspected methamphetamine that was recovered from the vehicle.
Jaramillo was arrested and charged with third-degree felony possession of a firearm by a restricted person, along with misdemeanor drug charges.
Two months prior, he was arrested during an undercover joint sting operation that was initiated by the Utah Attorney General’s Office on April 22, 2021. Jaramillo was charged with one misdemeanor count of patronizing a prostitute.
Less than a year later, both cases were dismissed “upon the interest of justice,” the order states.
The suspect is scheduled to make an initial appearance in 5th District Court in St. George on July 27.
Santa Clara-Ivins Police Officer Mike Pondoya told St. George News that detectives are still working the case and it is an active investigation. The second suspect remains outstanding and no further details are being released at this time.
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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