Police: Couple used baby as ‘prop’ to commit burglary

Stock image | St. George News

SANTA CLARA — A man and woman were arrested Wednesday after allegedly burglarizing a home in Santa Clara, using their baby boy as a prop to assist in the burglary, police said.

Ricky Tony George, 27, of Thousand Palms, California, booking photo | Photo courtesy of Washington County Sheriff’s Office, St. George News

Ricky Tony George, 27, of Thousand Palms, California, and Sylvia Doreen Adams, 28, of West Covina, California, were arrested on counts of burglary, theft and child abuse, among other charges.

The pair arrived at the Santa Clara residence with the baby to buy a truck from the homeowner, according to probable cause statements written by Santa Clara-Ivins Police Sgt. Jaron Studley in support of the suspects’ arrest.

Adams allegedly distracted the homeowner by asking for a tour of the home.

“While the victim was giving Ms. Adams the tour, the male suspect, Ricky Tony George, went through the home stealing items,” the officer wrote.

After the suspects left, the homeowner called police to report that safes containing $2,500 in cash and hundreds of dollars’ worth of gift cards had been taken from the home. Several pieces of jewelry were also missing.

Police issued a bulletin for officers to be on the lookout for the suspect and their vehicles after the homeowner provided descriptions.

Police did not specify in the report whether the suspects purchased the homeowner’s truck, but Adams and George were found and pulled over in separate vehicles on Interstate 15. After consent was granted to search one of the vehicles, police observed multiple pieces of jewelry.

Sylvia Doreen Adams, 28, of West Covina, California, booking photo | Photo courtesy of Washington County Sheriff’s Office, St. George News

Adams and George were arrested after the homeowner confirmed their identities through photographs. The vehicles were impounded to the Santa Clara-Ivins Police Department where a search warrant was executed.

According to the statement, officers found two safes in the vehicle Adams was driving and, using the code provided by the homeowner, were able to open them, finding identification documents belonging to the homeowners’ family members.

“Burglary tools,” including a mallet and a long prying driver, were also found inside the vehicle, and loose Oxycodone pills without prescription were located in the console, according to police.

Adams and George were booked into Purgatory Correctional Facility in Hurricane on numerous felony charges relating to the burglary.

The couple had used their 7-month-old son “as a prop” for their plan to commit burglary, the officer wrote, resulting in an additional felony charge of child abuse for both suspects.

At the time of this report, both suspects remain in custody on $40,000 bond. Neither George nor Adams has any previous record of criminal history in Utah.

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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2 Comments

  • mshaw March 9, 2018 at 11:43 pm

    America’s dumbest criminals!!!

  • Mike P March 11, 2018 at 8:49 am

    Ah, another fine young couple! FYI, has anyone ever been to Thousand Palms California ? I have, I had to do some telephone work there back in the mid 80’s and back then, it qualified as one of the biggest dumps in California. Dirt streets, run down trailer parks, and prostitutes. It was famous then as a regular stop for truckers passing thru.

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