ST. GEORGE — A couple was arrested over the weekend after an alleged vehicle burglary set off a series of events that involved two states, multiple agencies and several different jurisdictions. Together, they accumulated over 50 charges.
Shortly before noon on Saturday, officers responded to a nearby jurisdiction on a report of a vehicle burglary in which $2,500 in cash and bank cards were stolen, according to charging documents filed in support of the arrests.
Police were then informed by the complainant that someone was attempting to use the cards at a retail store in Washington City.
After responding to the store, officers say they reviewed surveillance footage that showed a couple at one of the registers attempting to use multiple bank cards to pay for their items. After each completed a transaction using the stolen credit cards, police allege, the pair left the store in a black SUV that could be seen leaving the parking lot.
The total amount spent between the pair was more than $950.
A description of the suspects and the black SUV were released to other retailers in the area, which is when a call came in reporting two individuals whose descriptions matched those at another store in the area. When officers arrived, they spotted the black Dodge Durango, and the pair reportedly fled before officers had a chance to catch up. They then lost sight of the SUV.
Police say they later identified the suspects as Charles Dawson, 22, of Dana Beach, Florida, and Natalia Roc, 21, of Rivera Beach, Florida, who were reportedly involved in several felony thefts in both Utah and Arizona. A police broadcast was issued describing the pair.
An officer who heard the broadcast and was stopped on southbound Interstate 15 just south of the Green Spring Exit in Washington City spotted the Durango pass by. The officer pulled out behind them with emergency lights and sirens activated. The Durango reportedly sped up as it continued south into St. George at more than 105 mph.
Near the St. George Boulevard Exit, the driver swerved onto the soft shoulder to avoid heavy traffic and kicked up a large plume of dust, the report states. The Durango then exited the interstate at Exit 6 and “continued to evade me by going southbound on Bluff at which
point, I lost visual and terminated the pursuit,” the officer noted in the report.
Meanwhile, officers in St. George canvassing the area said they came upon the abandoned Durango near Crosby Confluence Park on Convention Center Drive. Its engine was still running.
Minutes later, the pair was located and taken into custody by police.
Officers ran a registration check on the Durango’s out-of-state license plate, which had tape over it and reportedly belonged to a different vehicle. The missing front plate was later recovered from inside the vehicle.
A records check identified the driver as Dawson from his Florida ID card, but police were unable to locate any valid driver’s license issued to him.
The couple was arrested and booked into jail facing more than 50 charges between them, including one second-degree felony count each of vehicle theft.
Dawson faces additional charges that include 10 third-degree felony counts of unlawful possession of a financial card and one felony count of evading. He also faces eight misdemeanor counts of unlawful use of a financial card, one count each of criminal conspiracy, failing to stop at command of law enforcement, burglary of a vehicle, reckless driving, displaying a plate on the wrong vehicle and giving false information to a police officer — each a misdemeanor.
Roc faces 11 third-degree felony counts of unlawful possession of a financial card and four misdemeanor counts of the same charge, along with nine additional misdemeanor counts that include six counts of unlawful use of a financial card, two counts of possession of burglary tools and one count of vehicle burglary and possession of marijuana and paraphernalia.
Following Saturday’s arrests, Dawson and Roc remain in custody without bail, while the charges were forwarded to the Washington County Attorney’s Office for review.
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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