CEDAR CITY — Police in Cedar City have arrested a man suspected of stealing an electric unicycle and later allegedly driving a vehicle while intoxicated.
Giovanni Aceves, 30, was booked into Iron County Jail shortly before 2:30 a.m. Saturday. He is being held on suspicion of felony theft and two other third-degree felony charges, namely DUI with two or more priors and refusing to submit to a chemical test with two or more priors.
According to charging documents filed in 5th District Court, Aceves also faces four misdemeanor counts related to possession of drugs and paraphernalia, driving under a suspended or revoked license and not complying with vehicle ignition interlock device requirements.
According to the probable cause statements filed in support of Aceves’s arrest, at approximately 1:30 a.m., Cedar City Police officers were dispatched to a bar on 100 West on a report of a theft of an electric unicycle.
The person who had reported the unicycle stolen had tracked the suspect’s van to a location just a few blocks away from the bar, along Coal Creek Road, the affidavit states.
“When officers arrived, both the victim and the suspect were outside their vehicles,” the arresting officer wrote, adding, “I approached the suspect, who claimed he had bought the unicycle from Facebook Marketplace. However, he was unable to provide any proof of purchase or communication with the seller. Photos of both the suspect and the van had been shared on social media to aid in locating him.”
Aceves reportedly gave conflicting stories about who he had purchased the unicycle from and how much he’d paid for it.
Responding officers also reportedly noticed “a strong odor” of an alcoholic beverage coming from Giovanni’s breath, in addition to slurred speech and other signs of intoxication.
According to the affidavit, Aceves admitted to driving the van, a statement that was corroborated by other witnesses. Nevertheless, he refused to submit to field sobriety tests and also refused to allow a blood sample to be taken, even after a warrant was obtained.
Additionally, officers allegedly found an unspecified amount of marijuana in a package inside the van, as well as burnt residue in two different pipes.
A search of Utah court records indicates that Aceves currently has two pending criminal cases, both out of Salt Lake County. One is a misdemeanor DUI and reckless driving case filed in January after an incident in December 2023, for which he has a pretrial conference scheduled in Salt Lake City Justice Court on Aug. 28. The other more recent case is a class A misdemeanor criminal trespass charge filed in Salt Lake County’s 3rd Judicial District in June, for which his next scheduled hearing is tentatively set for Sept. 17.
Aceves is currently being held without bail in Iron County Jail as he awaits his initial appearance in Cedar City’s 5th District Court on the new charges.
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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