Southern Utah University Police arrst suspicious men with stolen car, drugs and firearm
CEDAR CITY UT Dec 14 2020— Two men driving a vehicle with a Colorado license plate were arrested by Southern Utah University Police Thursday night on multiple charges, including theft of a vehicle.
According to a probable cause statement filed in support of the arrest, Jase Parris, 31, and Christopher Lee Coulter, 31, were reported to campus police by individuals who said there were two men in the parking lot of SUU housing who didn’t look like students and were asking people for “money and weed.”
SUU Police Chief Rick Brown said that a student alerted officers of the suspicious males.
“This is a good example of community policing,” Brown said, adding that it was a situation where everyone worked together to identify these men who didn’t belong.
The arresting officer said in the statement that he was given the vehicle description of a tan Cadillac and found it in the parking lot occupied by two males.
“I ran the plate through dispatch and it came back as stolen,” the officer said in the statement.
The arresting officer said the two males left the parking lot in the vehicle and he followed for a few minutes while calling for backup and before making a traffic stop at 34 E. 600 South in Cedar City.
“Neither occupant had ID on them, so I had them step out of the vehicle. I verified the VIN of the vehicle with dispatch, who verified that the vehicle was stolen,” the statement said.
The driver’s license of the driver, Parris, pulled up as revoked, the statement said.
Brown was later able to confirm to Cedar City News that the two males were from Colorado.
Both males were placed under arrest and a K9 sniff search was conducted.
According to the statement, the K9 alerted and a “number of marijuana dabs and pipes were found in the vehicle.”
After a further search of the vehicle, numerous new items and clothing with tags were found without any accompanying receipts. A Walmart gift card was also found in the possession of the driver with no proof of purchase and the driver stated they had no money.
The passenger of the vehicle, Coulter, was unable to provide any information as to where they had been or where the items came from, the statement said.
Both men were booked into Iron County Jail on charges of theft of a firearm or operable vehicle and use or possession of drug paraphernalia. Additionally, Parris was charged with operating a vehicle without a license or registration.
