St. George SWAT Situation Leads to Arrest of Notable Drug Dealer

The SWAT teams of Southern Utah have been busy as of late with not only with dealing with fake reports of a school shooting at Hurricane High School on April 1, but also assisting in the arrest of an alleged drug dealer on March 30.

Officers with the St. George Police Department arrived at the home of the suspect near Costco in St. George where the man refused to adhere to police commands and locked himself inside his home.

Public Information Officer Tiffany Mitchell from the SGPD said measures needed to be taken to arrest the man in a swift manner due to the danger he posed to the public.

Officer Mitchell said, “We created a perimeter around the house. We drafted a warrant which was approved, I imagine because of the risk that this individual posed to the safety of officers and others. We chose to call the SWAT team to come out because they’re well equipped for those kinds of calls.”

Officers also believed the drug dealer was harboring weapons within his home, increasing the danger factor, not just for the officers, but for the surrounding residential area.

SWAT arrived on the scene ready to act, but the suspect surrendered just five minutes after SWAT made it to the home.

Officer Mitchell said, “The SWAT team supervisor said they were on the scene less than five minutes when he surrendered, so it doesn’t sound like they had to take much action to get him to come out of the house.”

Residents near the scene claimed to hear explosions coming from the area, but Officer Mitchell said the report gave no mention of any flash-bangs or other explosives at the home.