St. George man arrested after talking to pole, stepping in front of cars

St. George Police cruiser stock image | Photo by Austin Peck, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — A 50-year-old man was arrested on drug-related charges Thursday evening after multiple witnesses called 911 to report the man’s erratic and bizarre behavior in a St. George street.

Ted Ivan Williams, of St. George, Utah, booking photo posted April 6, 2017 | Photo courtesy of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, St. George News

Officers responded to an area off South Sunland Drive in St. George on a report of a suspicious man in the roadway, according to a probable cause statement filed by the St. George Police Department in support of the arrest.

“Multiple people had called into dispatch reporting a male in the roadway performing various odd actions,” the arresting officer wrote in a sworn statement, “such as running around with his arms in the air, bowing down then standing up suddenly as if he was worshipping the sun, talking to an electrical pole and running out into the roadway with his arms flailing about.”

Police arrived on scene and watched the man’s reportedly strange behavior, including stepping into the roadway into the path of two different approaching vehicles, according to the statement.

The man, identified as Ted Ivan Williams, told police he had been jogging in the area, but also said he had his truck which was parked along the roadside, the report stated.

As police were issuing Williams a citation for “being a pedestrian in the roadway and interfering with traffic,” the officer wrote in the statement, Police K-9 Emma arrived on scene and alerted to the presence of drugs inside Williams’ truck.

During a search of the truck, a crystalline substance that tested positive for methamphetamine was located on the mirror of the truck’s sun visor, according to the statement.

“Ted (Williams) initially claimed he has never used methamphetamine but when asked about his rapid weight loss since his last booking photo in October 2016, he eventually admitted that he had used methamphetamine about 2 ½ months ago,” the officer stated. “He then later stated it was more recent than that and had been about a week to a month ago.”

However, based on Williams’ actions observed by at least four witnesses, the report stated, police surmised that Williams had used meth within 12 hours of the reported incident.

Williams was arrested and transported to the Washington County Purgatory Correctional Facility.

The Washington County Attorney’s Office filed an information in 5th District Court accusing Williams of class A misdemeanor possession of methamphetamine.

Judge G. Michael Westfall, of the 5th District Court, ordered $1,930 bail for Williams’ release pending trial. Williams was found indigent by the court during his arraignment Friday and will be represented by court-appointed attorney Douglas Terry.

As this report is published, Williams remains in police custody.

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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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2017, all rights reserved.

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2 Comments

  • sagemoon April 11, 2017 at 9:52 am

    Dang tweeker.

  • JOSH DALTON April 11, 2017 at 2:33 pm

    Has anybody else seen THE GIANT FLAG AND POLE down here on Sunland Dr. I was flabbergasted by the eminence size. I should bring it up at the next commerce meeting. Its blocking my view of Pine Valley mountain. Maybe that is what he was looking at!

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