(Bloomington CC)
After a weekend break-in at Bloomington Country Club in St. George, Utah, with much of what was stolen belonging to nine club members, General Manager Scott Brandt and his staff quickly notified area pawnshops with a description of the stolen property and also scoured social media and found postings of stolen items that were being advertised for sale. That led to the arrest of a suspect at a pawnshop the next day and recovery of members’ property. “In the end, our members trust us with their property,” Brandt said. “So when an unfortunate situation like this presents itself, we go to great lengths and make every effort to make sure [it] is returned wherever possible.”
A man was arrested just one day after allegedly breaking into the Bloomington Country Club in St. George, Utah and stealing nearly $30,000 in golf equipment, the St. George News reported, and the club staff’s efforts to use social media and contact local pawnshops to help alert the community to the theft was credited with the quick apprehension of the suspect.
Officers had been dispatched to Bloomington CC after an employee called emergency dispatch reporting a break-in at the business, the News reported, and after arriving they learned that over $29,000 in golfing supplies had been stolen from the business, much of which belonged to nine club members.
Scott Brandt, Bloomington CC’s General Manager, told the News that as soon as the break-in was discovered and reported to police, he and his staff began the process of notifying nearby golf courses and area pawnshops with a description of the stolen property.
Brandt also said his staff began scouring social media to see if any of the items were being advertised to sell. After a number of posted items were found, screenshots were taken of the ads and later turned over to authorities.
Bloomington CC is equipped with a security system, Brandt added, and every effort is made to protect the members’ property, including the extra effort on the part of the staff that ultimately resulted in the recovery of a majority of the property that was then returned to the members. Those efforts were also instrumental in helping to identify the person responsible, the News reported.
“In the end, our members trust us with their property,” Brandt said. “So when an unfortunate situation like this presents itself, we go to great lengths and make every effort to make sure their property is returned wherever possible.”
One of the club staff’s calls to a local pawnshop prompted a call to police the next day that led to the arrest of the suspect, the News reported. According to the probable-cause statement filed in support of the arrest, emergency dispatch received a call reporting that an individual, later identified as 30-year-old David Bird, was attempting to pawn several sets of golf clubs that were suspected to be stolen, based on information received by the pawnshop following the burglary that had been reported at Bloomington CC.
When officers responded to the pawnshop, the News reported, they found 20 golf clubs and a range finder that Bird was attempting to pawn, but the transaction had yet to be completed.
Bird initially told police the clubs belonged to him but later changed his story and said they did not belong to him, according to the report, adding that he was asked to sell the clubs by a friend who had no photo ID, the News reported.
Police say Bird said he confirmed the property was not stolen and then agreed to sell the items for a fee, the News reported. The suspect also admitted to posting an advertisement on a social-media site to sell several of the clubs, and screenshots of the postings were captured and later turned over to police.
A review of the suspect’s cell phone failed to corroborate Bird’s account of a second suspect, and he was also unable to provide any information on the location where he had picked the items up from before taking them to the pawnshop, the News reported. Authorities did, however, find messages indicating several of the clubs were left behind and where they were located, according to the report.
Following the interview with police, Bird was arrested and booked into Purgatory Correctional Facility of Washington County, Utah, the News reported. He was charged with a second-degree felony for receiving stolen property and a third-degree felony for burglary of a building. He also faces four misdemeanor charges for possession of a controlled substance and paraphernalia.
The property later seized by police was returned to the rightful owners, the Newsreported.
Once the suspect was booked into jail, two additional charges were filed by the Washington County Attorney’s Office in connection with a second unrelated case that was reported in September 2021 involving a residential burglary reported in St. George, the News reported.
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