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Police seek suspect in connection with 4 felony crimes committed in one night

Posted at 4:32 PM, Oct 16, 2014
and last updated 2014-10-16 18:33:42-04

SOUTH JORDAN, Utah -- South Jordan police need your help tracking down a man allegedly involved in a crime spree that occurred overnight in their city.

The suspect acted quickly and vanished into the night, but at least one of the stores has security footage of the burglar.

Cops believe the same individual hit four local businesses in about an hour Wednesday night. He didn't get much in any of those burglaries or the attempted robbery, but police said they got what they needed: some surveillance video from the last place the burglar hit.

First there was a smash, then the grab. Security video shows a man police say burglarized Twinkle Me Pretty, which is a dance supply store in South Jordan.

The suspect was in and out of the store in less than 30 seconds and only got a few dollars in change from the register.

John Ortiz, the owner of the store, spoke about the theft.

“That's the good thing, we don't keep cash in it, especially after closing times, and so there's hardly anything in it, so that's the one good thing,” he said. “And we were closed, so there were no employees here or anything."

The man may not have made off with much money, but he left behind hundreds of dollars in damage. It was a similar scene at the guitar store, where the thief didn't get cash or merchandise. He also hit a smoke shop, where he got a small amount of money from the till.

Police said the scariest crime for them happened at a Domino’s Pizza, where the suspect told employees he had a gun and demanded cash.

When employees said they couldn't open the till, the man ran away.

Sam Winkler of the South Jordan Police Department said they are hoping the public can help them find the man.

"He committed four felony crimes,” he said. “That's a pretty serious offense, and we would like to catch him."

Their best piece of evidence so far is the security video, and police said the suspect appears to be younger, tall, thin and white.

Ortiz said he hopes his video helps.

“It's not that good of quality, but hopefully we can at least catch him, because I think he hit at least three if not four places last night,” he said.

Anyone with any information about the suspect is asked to call South Jordan police at 801-840-4000.