ST. GEORGE — A man is incarcerated and faces multiple felony charges after he allegedly rolled a stolen vehicle on Interstate 15 on Feb. 4 and then fled the scene of the accident on foot.
At approximately 3 a.m. on Feb. 4, Utah Highway Patrol troopers and St. George Police officers were dispatched to a rollover accident that occurred on southbound Interstate 15 near milepost 3, according to a statement written by UHP Trooper Grant Hintze in support of the arrest.
“A witness reported to dispatch that he saw the accident, and the occupants were trying to leave the scene,” Hintze wrote in the statement.
St. George Police officers arrived at the scene to find the two occupants of the vehicle gone.
![Izack King, 20, of Cedar City, booking photo posted Feb. 4, 2015 | Image courtesy of Washington County Sheriff's Office, St. George News]()
Izack King, 20, of Cedar City, booking photo posted Feb. 4, 2015 | Image courtesy of Washington County Sheriff’s Office, St. George News
The St. George Communication Center received a call a short time later that two suspicious men matching the description of the rolled vehicle’s occupants were allegedly in a nearby neighborhood knocking on a door. St. George Police officers responded to the area, located the men and detained them. One of the men was identified as Izack King, 20, of Cedar City.
The owner of the stolen vehicle, also of Cedar City, was contacted and notified that her vehicle had been involved in an accident. She was unaware the vehicle was missing from her garage.
The vehicle owner told Cedar City officers “that the subjects at the scene broke into her house and stole the vehicle,” according to the statement.
“In the stolen vehicle was the registered owner’s purse and work folder with credit cards,” the statement said.
St. George officers brought the detained subjects to the scene of the accident.
“It was obvious from their disheveled appearance they were the occupants of the wrecked vehicle,” Hintze said in the statement.
Both men were mirandized before questioning. King then admitted to stealing the car, wrecking it and using the credit cards that belonged to the registered owner of the vehicle. King stated he used one of the cards at the Wal-Mart in Bloomington and at an unspecified gas station, according to the statement. He also admitted to driving the stolen vehicle at the time of the accident at speeds of 85 to 90 mph.
The other occupant of the vehicle told officers he was in Southern Utah to visit a friend in St. George. He said he had traveled from Salt Lake City to Cedar City with a friend and was dropped off. King picked him up at the McDonald’s in Cedar City in the stolen vehicle, according to the statement.
King said there were three credit cards in his wallet belonging to the vehicle’s owner. There was also a green backpack in the stolen vehicle that was his.
King complained of pain due to the accident. He and the other man were arrested and transported by St. George Police officers to Dixie Regional Medical Center for evaluation.
After speaking with the registered owner of the vehicle, Cedar City Police officers discovered not all the credit cards in King’s possession were the vehicle owner’s; some belonged to a Cedar City business. Three of the four credit cards were found in King’s wallet. After walking around the scene of the accident, Hintze found the fourth credit card, bearing the registered owner’s name, on the ground.
Upon checking her account, the vehicle owner said the credit card King had used showed three charges — one at Wal-Mart and two at a Texaco. Cedar City Police officers who were following up on the Texaco gas station charges said the station where the charges were made was most likely in Cedar City, according to the statement.
While searching King’s green backpack, Hintze found a cellphone, papers and a ceramic pot with what appeared to be a plastic baggie inside of it pushed to the very bottom. The smell of marijuana was emanating from inside the ceramic jar.
“The opening was very narrow, and I tried multiple tools to remove the plastic bag without breaking the pot,” Hintze said in the statement. “I could not remove the baggie, I broke the ceramic pot to get to the bag. I found the baggie was empty, but smelled of marijuana.”
King was asked about the ceramic pot and asked if he had smoked marijuana recently.
“Izack (King) replied he had not,” Hintze said in the statement.
King and the other man were medically cleared from the hospital and booked into the Washington County Purgatory Correctional Facility. The other man was later released from custody and has not been charged in connection with the incident at the time of this publication, according to information from the Washington County Attorney’s Office. The investigation into that man’s involvement in the incident is ongoing.
King was charged with one second-degree felony count of theft by receiving a stolen vehicle; four third-degree felonies for unlawful acquisition, possession or transfer of a finance card; one class A misdemeanor for leaving the scene of an accident; one class B misdemeanor for unlawful use of a financial transaction card; one class C misdemeanor for driving on an expired license; and one class C misdemeanor for failure to stay in one lane.
King is still in custody at Purgatory Correctional Facility at the time of this publication, according to current bookings information. His next court appearance is scheduled for Tuesday.
Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.
St. George News Assistant Editor Cami Cox Jim contributed to this report.
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