ST. GEORGE — Police charged 20-year-old Jakob Grogan, of St. George, with aggravated robbery Thursday after authorities say he lured two men from a bar on the ruse of a party but then instead robbed them at gunpoint earlier this month.
On Jan. 5, the night of the alleged incident, officers were dispatched to the 400 South block of 900 East in St. George at 2:30 a.m. on report of two men being robbed at gunpoint.
The men told officers they met the suspect while drinking at the One and Only bar at 64 N. 800 East, who invited them to a party at an apartment complex on 900 East, according to the probable cause statement filed with the court in support of Grogan’s arrest.
The two men followed the suspect in their own vehicle, and as they were walking toward the apartment complex, police say the suspect pointed a black handgun at the pair and demanded their wallets, kicking one of the men as he did so. One wallet allegedly contained $2,000 in cash and a bank card.
According to the police statement, Grogan took the wallets and continued pointing the gun at the men as he fled, initially backing away before he left in what was described as a blue Toyota passenger car, at which point the men lost sight of him and called police.
At the time of the report, the suspect was described as a light-skinned black male in his 20s wearing orange clothing. Officers obtained a more detailed description after speaking with a witness at the bar where the alleged robbery was set in motion.
The witness said the suspect had a distinct tattoo of a moneybag with a dollar sign on it behind one of his ears, was 6 feet, 4 inches tall wearing a long-sleeve orange shirt with white stripes, had chains hanging from his neck and had both ears pierced.
Police also received reports that Grogan may be staying at Vintage at Tabernacle, a student housing complex near Dixie State University.
Police were already aware of Grogan, the court record says, as a possible suspect in an unrelated case. Investigators determined he may have been involved in the armed robbery that night based on the witness description, the area where the crime occurred and the suspect’s address.
Officers recovered surveillance footage from the apartment complex, which showed a man matching Grogan’s description leaving the apartment just prior to the robbery wearing clothing and in a vehicle that matched the description provided by the witnesses. Shortly thereafter, the footage showed the man returning to the apartment accompanied by a female holding a shopping bag from a convenience store near the complex.
Surveillance footage obtained from the convenience store showed the same man inside of the store wearing orange clothing within 15 minutes of the robbery taking place, according to the timestamp on the store’s video. The footage also showed the man paying for items and gas with a $100 bill, court records say.
According to the probable cause statement, a criminal background check revealed Grogan has a history of felony arrests, including retail theft, drug possession and aggravated robbery, as well as a conviction for possession of a firearm by a restricted person.
On Thursday, an officer observed Grogan at the same convenience store, and when they called out to him by name, the suspect allegedly got into a black Honda Civic and fled the area.
The Honda was located by officers minutes later in the Vintage at Tabernacle parking structure. Officers made their way to the apartment unit number obtained through a registration check of the Honda.
Police located Grogan inside the apartment, where he had been staying since Christmas, according to court documents. Investigators collected the shirt and shoes matching the description provided by witnesses shortly after the alleged Jan. 5 robbery. The defendant was then transported to the police station for further questioning.
Court records indicate Grogan said he was at the bar and that he had met the two men that night. He told officers that he followed them to a party on 900 East, but when no one answered the door, he went directly home, and he later said he may have gone to a store before returning home.
When confronted about the robbery, the defendant denied the accusations and gave conflicting accounts of the night in question. Shortly thereafter, he was arrested and booked into jail for the robbery and other unrelated offenses from a separate investigation.
Grogan was scheduled to appear in Fifth District Court Friday at 1:30 p.m. on a first-degree felony charge of aggravated robbery, in addition to four other charges not directly related to the case, including failing to stop at an officer’s command, a third-degree felony; and three misdemeanors, including criminal trespassing, possession of a controlled substance and possession of paraphernalia.
Grogan remains in custody at the time of this report.
This report is based on statements from police 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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