ST. GEORGE — A suspect arrested following an early-morning vehicle burglary last week has been tied to a string of thefts and break-ins reported across multiple jurisdictions throughout Washington County.
On Aug. 29, Curtis Bailee Proctor, 25, was arrested and booked into Purgatory Correctional Facility on multiple charges following a vehicle burglary that was reported the previous morning on South 1750 East in St. George.
According to charging documents filed shortly after the arrest, a caller told police their pickup truck had been broken into and that a 12-gauge shotgun, shells and other miscellaneous items were missing.
Investigators viewed footage from a neighbor’s security cameras that showed a white hatchback pull into the neighborhood and stop near where the alleged break-in took place. Officers also noted that the suspect’s vehicle was missing its hood.
The suspect exited the car and after reportedly burglarizing the pickup truck, he drove away.
A car matching the suspect’s vehicle was spotted in the parking lot of a pawn shop the following day, and hours later, officers responded to the Red Cliffs Mall where the same vehicle had been spotted in the parking lot.
Investigators watched as the man matching the description of the suspect entered the white hatchback and drove off with officers in tow.
A records check indicated the vehicle’s registration was not valid, nor was there any valid insurance on file. Once the suspect stopped and got out of the car, officers approached.
“The driver was contacted after he parked the vehicle in a neighborhood he did not live in — claiming he was visiting a friend,” the officer noted.
When asked, the suspect admitted to being at the pawn shop earlier that day to buy coins. When pressed further, he denied going to the pawn shop to sell a shotgun, adding he had no idea where the shotgun was located. He also denied having any involvement in the vehicle burglary that officers were inquiring about.
The vehicle was impounded for having invalid registration, and during a search of the truck, officers recovered a bag of shotgun shells that matched the ones reportedly taken during the reported vehicle burglary.
The suspect explained that a week before, he had gone shooting with a friend who had a shotgun. The registration was invalid because he had recently purchased the vehicle and had yet to register it in his name.
Proctor was arrested and booked into jail facing second-degree felony theft of a firearm, along with three misdemeanor charges of theft, vehicle burglary and driving on a suspended license.
From there, he was linked to a string of vehicle burglaries and thefts reported in St. George and Washington City.
Search yields property from multiple thefts
On Aug. 30, one day after the suspect’s arrest, officers obtained a gun reported as stolen during a vehicle burglary several days earlier. Officers also recovered other unique items reportedly taken during the incident as well.
Later that day, officers obtained a search warrant for Proctor’s residence, and in the garage they found the shotgun that turned out to belong to a victim of a vehicle burglary reported two days earlier that ultimately led to the suspect’s arrest.
Officers recovered a large knife, binoculars, a camera and a police badge — items taken during an unrelated break-in of an unmarked police vehicle in Hurricane.
As the search continued, officers recovered a cell phone and driver’s license belonging to the victim of a vehicle burglary reported on Aug. 22, along with nearly $2,000 in cash recovered from a safe.
In total, more than $1,300 in stolen items were recovered during the search, along with various marijuana products and paraphernalia.
The suspect was later charged with second-degree felony possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person and possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance and one third-degree felony count of the same charge. Proctor was also charged with one count of unlawfully possessing the identification of another individual, theft by receiving and manufacture-delivery of paraphernalia — each a misdemeanor.
On Aug. 29, officers recovered a second firearm that was traced back to the victim of a vehicle burglary reported days earlier that was allegedly tied to Proctor. The suspect was charged with second-degree felony theft of a firearm in connection with the incident.
Vehicle burglary in Washington City
Three days before, officers were dispatched to a report of a vehicle burglary in Washington City during the early morning hours of Aug. 26, where investigators arrived to learn that multiple items, including two credit cards, were reportedly stolen from a pickup truck.
Within hours of the break-in, the credit cards were used multiple times at a retail store in St. George starting at 6 a.m. In the span of less than 15 minutes, multiple transactions, both completed and attempted, totaling more than $2,400 were made using these cards.
Officers obtained surveillance footage that showed a man, later identified as Proctor, making the purchases at one of the store’s self-checkout terminals using the stolen bank cards, police say.
With the suspect already in custody on the unrelated cases, investigators in Washington City submitted three charges to the Washington County Attorney’s Office for review, including third-degree felony unlawful acquisition of a financial card and unlawful use of a financial card, as well as one misdemeanor count of vehicle burglary.
Cases tied together following pickup truck theft in St. George
On Aug. 26, officers responded to an incident involving a vehicle that was stolen from the driveway of a residence located in the area of North 2480 East shortly before 9 a.m. in St. George.
According to charging documents filed in support of the arrest, officers arrived and spoke to the caller who said that his brand new Ford F-350 was missing from the driveway. While officers were still on scene they learned that the truck was equipped with a GPS tracker that traced the pickup to the area of East Brynlee Street in St. George where it was recovered by police.
When investigators in St. George learned Proctor was already in jail on unrelated crimes, he was charged with second-degree felony theft of a motor vehicle.
Inside the stolen truck officers found multiple forms, receipts and other items belonging to a Washington City resident, along with stolen credit cards used at a retail store in St. George. Proctor was then linked to the two incidents reported in St. George and Washington City.
In all, the suspect faces more than a dozen charges between the cases, including five second-degree felony charges and three third-degree felony charges. He also faces seven misdemeanor charges. Proctor remains in custody without bail.
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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