ST. GEORGE — A woman accused of taking a cell phone and purse containing several hundred dollars in cash from a visitor arranging for shuttle service on South Bluff Street was arrested in St. George on Monday.
Officers were dispatched to the Salt Lake Express office on South Bluff Street shortly after 10 p.m. on a report of a theft that had taken place near the lobby of the business.
According to the probable cause statement filed with the court, officers spoke to an employee of the business who said a customer had reported that her cell phone and purse had been taken by a woman.
The employee said that as soon as the customer reported the incident, they confronted the suspect, who denied the allegations and said she did not take any property from the customer.
In the meantime, the customer’s daughter began pinging the phone, and as soon as she did so, the employee said, they could hear a ringing noise coming from the suspect’s purse, but the officer noted that the employee said the woman would not allow anyone to see the purse or phone inside.
The suspect then left the business and was seen walking north through the parking lot with an unidentified man.
The customer told officers that she was in the Express lobby earlier that night to arrange for a shuttle, adding she had planned to go to a local hotel to stay for the night before leaving on the bus the following morning.
She said it wasn’t until she reached the hotel that she realized her cell phone and purse were missing. She also provided police with a detailed description of the missing items, including approximately $700 in cash.
Officers located the suspect, later identified by her Nevada driver’s license as 36-year-old Erica Ashlee Brandin, of Henderson, in the parking lot near the shuttle company.
During a search of her purse, officers found a cell phone matching the description provided by the customer, along with the customer’s driver’s license and other identifying documents and approximately $620 in cash.
While speaking to officers, Brandin allegedly said she picked up a cell phone that was sitting on the ground and that she didn’t attempt to find the rightful owner of the device or turn it over to the business.
When officers reviewed Brandin’s criminal history, they discovered a first-degree felony burglary conviction out of Las Vegas from January 2017, a charge that she later pleaded guilty to.
The suspect was arrested and transported to Purgatory Correctional Facility facing third-degree felony theft, which was enhanced due to the prior felony conviction in Nevada, as well as one count of possession of another’s identifying documents in connection with the items found in the purse.
On Tuesday, the suspect was formally charged with the offenses and released from jail on a promise to appear. She is scheduled to make an initial appearance in 5th District Court on Feb. 18, 2022.
Ed. Note: A new Utah law generally prohibits the release of arrest booking photos until after a conviction is obtained.
This report is based on statements from court records, police or other responders and may not contain the full scope of findings. Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.
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