CEDAR CITY — A Cedar City man who was admitted to the hospital for a gunshot wound to his hand has been charged with illegally possessing a stolen firearm.
James Edward Condon, 43, was booked into Iron County Jail early Friday morning, after being treated for his injury at Cedar City Hospital.
According to the probable cause statement filed in support of Condon’s arrest, Cedar City Police officers were dispatched to the hospital at 1:30 a.m. to investigate a report of a gunshot wound.
After initially telling police the pistol had gone off while he was grabbing it away from a friend, Condon admitted that he had accidentally shot himself with it in his garage while nobody else was around, the affidavit states.
Officers then went to Condon’s residence and were able to locate the firearm inside the garage. They also reportedly found blood in the area around the box where the gun was stored.
A check of the firearm’s registration revealed that the weapon had been reported stolen in a vehicle burglary in Cedar City in October 2022.
After reading Condon his Miranda rights, police officers then questioned him about where and how he obtained the gun.
According to the affidavit, Condon provided at least two conflicting accounts. The first was that he had purchased the gun on July 31 for $200 from “an unknown homeless man at the Dairy Queen.” He later changed his story to say he’d paid $400 to buy the gun from a man named Shawn, who had reportedly bought it from someone else for $200.
“I advised Mr. Condon I did not believe he was telling me the truth,” the arresting officer wrote in the affidavit.
The officer also reminded Condon that he is prohibited by law from possessing a firearm.
“I advised Mr. Condon he was not legally able to own a firearm, due to being convicted felon and a prior conviction for having a firearm by a restricted person,” the officer wrote.
Condon has been charged with two second-degree felony counts: one count of possession of a firearm by a restricted person and one count of theft/possession of a stolen firearm.
Condon, who posted a $5,000 unsecured bond on Monday, has his initial appearance scheduled for Aug. 19 before 5th District Judge Jeffrey C. Wilcox in Cedar City.
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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