ST. GEORGE — A man in jail for an alleged burglary was linked to a separate case when detectives requested a picture of his shoes. The prints turned out to be a match, police say.
On May 15, 35-year-old Matthew Aaron Nelson of St. George was arrested on multiple charges in two separate cases filed last week.
The arrest was set in motion when officers were dispatched to a St. George residence for a reported burglary, according to charging documents filed with the court.
The complainant told officers the incident occurred on May 14 when approximately $2,000 in jewelry was reportedly taken from a home. Officers received information identifying the suspect as Nelson, who was arrested and booked into jail later that day.
In the meantime, officers were attempting to identify a suspect involved in another burglary reported at a residence on South Cambridge Drive two days prior. The reporting party told officers a suspect had entered the garage sometime during the night and rummaged through the homeowner’s vehicle.
Officers obtained video footage of the incident reportedly showing a man with tattoos and blue slip-on shoes peering around the property as if to see if anyone was watching, then entering the garage. The man on the security footage can also be seen inside the vehicle.
An email went out to other officers to help identify the suspect. Two days later, Nelson was arrested for the suspected jewelry theft and detectives from the second case noticed the physical description and tattoos matched the suspect they were looking for.
They asked for a photo to be taken at the jail to see what shoes the inmate was wearing. When they saw the photo, they reported that he was wearing the same slip-on shoes in the footage captured on South Cambridge Drive.
With the suspect already in custody, the case was filed, and Nelson was formally charged with third-degree felony burglary and misdemeanor vehicle burglary.
Following the suspect’s arrest on May 15, he was also formally charged with one third-degree felony count of theft and two misdemeanor charges for possession of a controlled substance and paraphernalia. On Friday, Nelson made an initial appearance in 5th District Court in St. George.
The case has been scheduled for a preliminary-waive hearing expected to take place on May 30 in St. George. At the time of this report, Nelson remains in jail on $5,00o 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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