ST. GEORGE — An unrelated call for an officer of the Hildale Police Department led to a pursuit of a stolen vehicle and ultimately, the arrest of a man who had meth on his person.
An officer from the Hildale Police Department was responding to an unrelated call for service Monday when he noticed a white Chevy Camaro that was reported stolen earlier that day in LaVerkin, according to court documents.
The suspect noticed the officer in uniform and sped away. The officer then made a U-turn, put lights and sirens on and pursued the vehicle, which was trying to evade by taking rapid turns.
“The driver continued on and we entered into the State of Arizona from the State of Utah where we started,” the responding officer wrote in the probable cause statement. “Due to the excessive speed I discontinued to pursue the stolen Camaro.”
The officer found the stolen vehicle abandoned behind a residence in Arizona a few minutes later, and the suspect had fled on foot. Police were able to locate the suspect who stole the vehicle Tuesday morning. The suspect, Ezra Barlow, 36, who lives one block from where the pursuit began.
The officer went to Barlow’s residence and noticed him working on a car outside. According to the probable cause statement, Barlow agreed to speak to the officer at the police station. Before being placed in the car, Barlow was searched for weapons and one-eighth ounce of meth was found, along with hundreds of dollars in small bundles in his pant pockets. A search warrant was issued and served immediately.
Police discovered a small digital scale, drug paraphernalia, including a pipe with meth residue, a pipe with marijuana residue and a syringe with an unknown brown substance, some additional unknown green “leafy” substance and a brown ball of unknown substance.
According to the statement, police also found the clothing Barlow was wearing while driving the stolen vehicle in a garbage can at his residence. Stolen miscellaneous vehicle batteries were also recovered, along with stolen copper wire.
Barlow was arrested and booked on the following charges: fleeing police by vehicle, three counts of possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of a controlled substance, possession of stolen property and driving on a suspended driver’s license.
Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law.
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