PROVO, Utah, Aug. 3, 2019 (Gephardt Daily) — A man was booked into jail Thursday after police say he burglarized a Provo residence, then set up a transient camp in its backyard.
Harley Hess, 37, was booked into the Utah County jail on suspicion of:
- Burglary of a dwelling, a second-degree felony
- Criminal mischief, a third-degree felony
- Failure to stop at the command of a law enforcement officer, a class A misdemeanor
- Theft, a class B misdemeanor
- Intoxication, a class C misdemeanor
A probable cause statement filed by an officer of the Provo Police Department says that officers responded to a residential burglary in which four windows were broken and items were taken.
“One of the tenants located a transient camp in their backyard,” the statement says. “The suspect was in the camp and when he saw the tenant. He ran into the trees and brush up the hill at the edge of the backyard. Located in the camp were multiple personal items from inside the house that belonged to the tenants.”
Open beer cans were found at the camp, and a wallet was located that held a Utah ID and a Social Security number belonging to suspect Hess.
“Harley was on the hillside near the camp that he had just ran from when I heard him,” the probable cause statement says. “I went up the hill and gave commands to Harley to stop.”
The officer ordered Hess to stop three times before the suspect turned around and was placed in handcuffs. The tenant who had seen the suspect run away identified Hess as the same man.
Hess admitted to the officer he had been drinking. Hess’s bail has been set at $10,000.
