Person Flags Down Officer Thinking A Male Laying On The Corner Could Be Dead. Police Find He’s A Wanted Man
- Travis Uresk
- Sep 26, 2024
- 3 min read
By Travis Uresk
9/26/24
| Roosevelt, Ut. | September 11th, 2024 |
An officer with the Roosevelt Police Department was flagged down at 300 East and Main Street by a female who stated that a male was lying on the corner a block or two over that she believed could be dead.
Officer Arnold located the male on the corner of 200 East 100 South and made contact with the male subject.
The officer asked the subject if he was okay, and he said he was. It was explained that someone had asked the police to check on him. He said that he was waiting for the bus and asked if the officer knew where the bus stop was.
Officer Arnold looked up the information and told him where the bus would stop and what time it should be. The officer then asked for his name, and he identified himself as Rick. At this time, the officer had no reason to make him identify himself, so he told Rick to have a nice day and returned to his patrol vehicle.
Officer Arnold then believed Rick was also the suspect of a shoplifting case from 8/7/2024 that he had been investigating, so he returned to the police department to quickly gather more information.
Dispatch found a license plate allegedly belonging to the shoplifting suspect returning to 45-year-old Richard T Jones (12/14/1978). Dispatch also advised that they believed Officer Wheeler had dealt with the individual the day before, but they had run his name with the date of birth 12/14/1970 from receiving false information from Richard.
Dispatch advised that Richard Jones, born in 1978, had an arrest warrant out of 8th District Roosevelt. They sent Officer Arnold a copy of the information and the warrant. The photo of Richard, born in 1978, looked like the individual he had spoken with earlier.
Officer Reed and Officer Arnold returned to speak with Rick again. They asked what his last name was, and he asked why they were asking. The officers told Rick they believed he had a warrant, and again, Rick asked why they were asking for his last name, so Officer Arnold asked if his last name was Jones. Rick mumbled, and again, he refused to give his last name. Officer Arnold asked Rick for his last four digits of his social were, and after more hesitation, he gave up his social.
The warrant was confirmed, and found that Rick was indeed the Richard Jones born in 1978, who had a warrant out for his arrest.
Richard was asked to stand up and after some hesitation and arguing, Richard stood up and was placed into handcuffs. He was walked over to the patrol vehicle and searched.
During the search incident to arrest, a pipe with suspected meth residue in the front right pocket of Richard's pants was located. Officer Arnold asked Richard about the pipe and if anything else would be found, and he said he didn't know about anything else because they were not his pants.
The officers also found his wallet with all his cards in the pants' back right pocket, which he told the police were not his.
Richard was then transported to the Roosevelt Police Department for a medical clearance.
In the evidence, Officer Arnold located a video regarding the incident on 8/7/2024 that did indeed show Richard taking a flashlight from a thrift store in Roosevelt.
Officer Arnold informed Richard at the jail that he would also be charged with the theft incident. Richard was then booked into the Duchesne County Jail without incident.
When dispatch ran a criminal history check on Richard, they located one pending charge for possession of a controlled substance in Utah, as well as several charges out of state for possession of a controlled substance.
When returning to the Roosevelt Police Department, Officer Arnold reviewed Officer Wheeler's body camera footage from 9/10/2024. In the footage, he could hear Richard identify himself as Richard Jones, born on 12/14/1970. He then contacted Officer Wheeler and informed her that Richard had lied to her about his birth date and that it came back to an actual person. She informed Officer Arnold that he needed to be charged for it.
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