Last week, the Emery County Sheriff’s Office (ECSO) released information regarding an incident that took place on Sept. 29 involving a high-speed chase with a stolen vehicle.
The chase was followed by a ground and air manhunt in the Miller’s Canyon area, which is near the town of Emery. The sheriff’s office reported that one suspect was located and arrested that day, though at that time they were unable to share details of the incident due to an ongoing investigation.
An interview conducted by ECSO personnel led to the identification of other suspects and work began in conjunction with Las Vegas Metro on the case over the course of a month. Based on the information provided by the sheriff’s office, Las Vegas Metro was able to locate additional suspects while obtaining more information and executing search warrants. These warrants resulted in the recovery of stolen vehicles, as well as several stolen firearms, two of which were related to homicides that took place in the Las Vegas area.
“One of the recovered firearms belongs to a resident of Ferron and was just returned to ECSO to be released to the owner,” said the ECSO. “Other firearms stolen from our area in this case are still missing, but the vehicles stolen in our area were all recovered.”
With this, the ECSO stated that during the interview process, the suspect that was arrested stated that he had been in the area earlier working for a contractor trimming trees. The work gave him the opportunity to see inside vehicles that were parked in driveways or in front of homes.
He saw what was left in vehicles and used this information to return to the area with others and steal from the vehicles. They would lift the doorhandles and take what they could if the vehicle was discovered unlocked. These items were taken to Las Vegas and typically sold. The suspect then shared that they often target small, rural areas such as Emery County where citizens are traditionally more laidback and trusting.
“Please take precautions to safeguard your homes, your vehicles and your property,” said the ECSO. “Lock your cars, take your keys.”