5 accused of thefts against Home Depot
Five men have been charged with theft by receiving stolen property after an alleged multistate fraud ring targeting Home Depot stores came to an end in Utah last week.
Domingo Ursua Samson, 71, Jose Gonsalez Salazar, 44, Anthony Adebayo Ajao, 36, Rony Giron Hernandez, 34, and Jorge Berrios, 40, were all charged with theft and receiving stolen property, a second-degree felony.
On May 20, officers from Cottonwood Heights and Midvale received intelligence that an organized crime ring that targets Home Depot stores would strike at a Cottonwood Heights store. Officers observed the men arrive in a van "heavily laden" with Home Depot merchandise, according to the charges.
After being taken into custody, all of the men told police that they were "part of an organization where workers are driven to Home Depot locations and, acting in concert, steal merchandise pre-selected by the supervisor by use of duplicate or counterfeit cash register receipts and fraudulently obtained gift cards," the charges said.
The merchandise in the van had been stolen at stores along the I-15 corridor from California through Utah, according to prosecutors.
— Ethan Thomas
S.L. man is charged with dog-fighting
A Salt Lake man faces dog-fighting charges after police responded to a tip that the man was training dogs for fighting.
Keith Ornette Harris, 40, was charged in 3rd District Court with seven counts of dog-fighting, a third-degree felony, and three counts of cruelty to an animal, a class-B misdemeanor.
Officers responded to the man's home in November after receiving the tip and he fled when officers began to question him, the charges said.
Officers found seven adult male pit bulls, two of which were chained up without water, and another was crated in its own waste without water, according to the charges.
"Officers discovered paraphernalia, including treadmills, along with other indicia and evidence that the dogs were being trained for fighting," the charges said.
— Ethan Thomas
South S.L. man guilty in prostitution case
A South Salt Lake man accused of hiring underage girls to perform motel-room sex acts has pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court.
DeWayne Eugene Hopkins, 27, was indicted in March on charges of recruiting three girls under 18 to work as escorts giving "erotic massages" and performing sexual acts for cash, the indictment said.
Hopkins pleaded guilty Monday to one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of children as part of a plea agreement with federal prosecutors. In exchange for the plea, prosecutors recommended that Hopkins get credit for accepting responsibility for his actions, and they recommended that he be sentenced at the low end of the sentencing guidelines.
The co-defendant in the case, Julia Jane Young, 19, has filed to continue her trial, and she recently retained a new attorney.
The indictment accused Hopkins of renting out rooms at a Midvale motel for the teenage girls' work and coaching the girls on how much to charge for certain sex acts. Young is accused of taking calls from potential customers and booking the appointments. Hopkins is also accused of ordering the girls to "give him half the money that they earned performing commercial sex acts," the indictment states.
Hopkins will be sentenced Sept. 1.
— Ethan Thomas
Police say man ran light in traffic death
Police say a Salt Lake man failed to stop at a red light and was speeding when his vehicle struck another car, killing an 87-year-old woman.
A Jeep driven by Siale Hale Vainuku, 30, ran a red light at the intersection of 600 South and 500 East on Nov. 7, 2008, and hit a vehicle driven by Yvonne Atwood, according to charges filed Tuesday in 3rd District Court.
Atwood was traveling north with a green light when Vainuku's jeep hit the Civic, the charges said. Atwood was transported to a hospital, where she died from injuries suffered in the crash, according to the charges.
Police say Vainuku's vehicle was traveling between 58 mph and 62 mph in an area with a 30 mph posted speed limit.
Vainuku was charged with speeding and running a red light. He was also charged with possession or use of a controlled substance after a toxicology report found his blood contained THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, the charges said.
— Lana Groves
Worker is charged in property thefts
A Holland Equipment Co. employee has been charged with pawning more than $150,000 worth of company property.
Kyle Gregg was charged with 19 counts of theft and theft by deception Tuesday in 3rd District Court. According to charging documents, Gregg signed out equipment and sold the items to various pawnshops in Weber and Davis counties.
Gregg told police that the materials were not his own, according to court records.
Holland Equipment, based in Salt Lake City, manufactures snowplows, cutting edges, bedding boxes, rock screens and wire slings.
— Lana Groves
4 charged with theft in fake store robbery
SOUTH SALT LAKE — Prosecutors have charged four former co-workers in connection with an armed robbery that police say was an inside job.
Employees of a Cricket phone store at 257 E. 3300 South admitted to staging the October robbery and then divvying up more than $11,000 in stolen cash, according to charges filed in 3rd District Court.
A woman, who originally complained to police Oct. 9 that a gun-wielding robber stuck a revolver to her head and demanded cash, admitted that the robber was actually her son, who is a minor, the charges state. Prosecutors say she planned the fake robbery with him, the store's manager and two other employees.
The father of the young man who allegedly acted out the robbery acted as a driver for the juvenile during the preplanned heist, the charges state. One employee, who was not charged with the others, told detectives he turned down an offer to participate.
Phillip Jerome Bolin, 34, Sharmara Bahnmiller, 30, Brook Camden, 22, and Javon McSwine, 34, are all charged with theft, a first-degree felony.
— Jacob Hancock
Woman avoids prison in '08 home-invasion
PROVO — The getaway driver for a home-invasion robbery narrowly avoided prison Monday.
Instead, Berniece Halalilo, 19, was sentenced to 36 months of probation and a $15,200 restitution tab for her role in an October 2008 assault. She had already served 144 days in jail.
Halalilo previously pleaded guilty in 4th District Court to five counts of robbery and one count of burglary, all second-degree felonies.
"She should be … happy she's not going to prison, as the others involved may very well be going to prison," said prosecutor Jason Sant.
Police say Jacob Falo and James Falo went into an apartment at 1127 W. 675 North in Orem around 2 a.m. on Oct. 9 with a 17-year-old juvenile and began attacking the residents with a handgun and a baseball bat.
Police say the group stole electronics, computers, game systems and cell phones, then shoved the residents into a bathroom, threatening to kill them if they called police. Police believe the robbers thought that there might be drugs and money at the home.
— Sara Israelsen-Hartley
Schanze's trial set in 2008 traffic case
OREM — There's still no resolution in the traffic case of Dell "Superdell" Schanze, which means the former computer salesman is facing a one-day trial.
Schanze was cited with reckless driving, seat-belt violations and carrying a concealed and dangerous weapon after he was pulled over in Saratoga Springs last Aug. 18.
Police say his car was shaking from side to side, and the officer had to pull off the road to avoid being hit. The officer asked if Schanze was carrying a gun and alleges Schanze said yes, but that he didn't have his gun with him.
Both Schanze and his attorney question the validity of the charges, especially the gun charge, because they believe it was asked about illegally during the traffic stop. There was no mention in subsequent reports of a gun ever being found.
Friday's hearing in 4th District Court in Orem was quiet, without fireworks that often accompany Schanze's run-ins with the media. Both defense and prosecuting attorneys arranged last-minute details with Judge Christine Johnson, handed in jury instructions and confirmed they'd appear June 19 around 8 a.m. to begin the trial.
— Sara Israelsen-Hartley
Motion filed to move Wilberger trial case
CORVALLIS, Ore. (AP) — Defense lawyers for Joel Courtney have asked that he be tried in another county in the death of Brigham Young University student Brooke Wilberger.
His lawyers gave no reason for the motion, common in high-profile cases.
Courtney is scheduled for trial next year in Benton County, charged with murder, rape and kidnapping. Wilberger disappeared at age 19 from a parking lot near Oregon State University. Her body has not been found.
The change-of-venue motion was one of 20 filed Wednesday by the defense lawyers. They also seek to bar the prosecution from challenging jury selections based on religion, require a unanimous vote for a guilty finding and suppress seizure and use of Courtney's "biological samples."
Prosecutors said the motions were expected and responses are forthcoming.