ST. GEORGE — Three nearly completed homes in a new subdivision off Southern Parkway were vandalized a little more than a week ago, an incident that left all three homes damaged — two of them heavily — by suspects police hope the public will help identify.
Expanded view of the Desert Color area depicted by a yellow circle that is home to a number of subdivisions near Southern Parkway just north of the Utah-Arizona border, St. George, Utah, Oct. 31, 2023 | Image courtesy of Google Maps, St. George News
St. George Police Department received a call on Oct. 23 indicating three homes that were nearing completion in a new subdivision in the Desert Color area had been vandalized.
The homes were located in one of the subdivisions within the new Desert Color community just south of where Southern Parkway connects with Interstate 15 near the Utah-Arizona border.
St. George Police Officer Tiffany Mitchell told St. George News officers arrived to find two of the homes were flooded, while a third home sustained extensive damage to the garage door that appeared to have been ripped from its hinges.
Mitchell said when officers were going through the other two homes, they found standing water when they entered and then learned several of the faucets had been intentionally turned on and then left running unattended. Further, she said, all of the sinks and drains were cluttered with trash and debris, which prevented the water from draining, which caused the water to spill over and ultimately flood both structures.
The flooding also caused extensive damage to both floors of the multi-level homes, including damage to the drywall that caused a ceiling in at least one of the homes to cave in onto the main floor.
Closeup image of the Desert Color area that is home to a number of subdivisions near Southern Parkway just north of the Utah-Arizona border, St. George, Utah, Oct. 31, 2023 | Image courtesy of Google Maps, St. George News
Investigators spoke to the construction crews that said “everything was fine” when they left the job site on Friday, Oct. 20, and it was only after they returned to the site on Monday, Oct. 23, that they discovered the homes were vandalized, Mitchell said.
The damages estimate exceeds $15,000, said Mitchell, adding those are initial estimates only, and the costs could go higher as repairs are completed. The suspects appeared to be intent on vandalizing the homes since nothing was reported missing.
Police have yet to identify those responsible and are seeking the public’s help.
Anyone with information that might assist the authorities in identifying the suspects responsible or any leads is asked to contact the St. George Police Department at 435-627-4300 and reference incident number 23P028459.
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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