HEBER CITY, Utah, Jan. 26, 2025 (Gephardt Daily) — Heber City Police officers have arrested an employee of a local car dealership after he allegedly entered the business after hours without permission, took a car, then returned it with $30,000 in damages.
Court documents for Jonathan Lee Croft, 38, say he returned to work with visible signs of intoxication and claimed he had taken the car as part of his work duties. Croft was asked by the general manager about paying for the damages, and Croff “removed his jacket and wanted to fight him.”
Croft was asked to leave, his probable cause statement says, and “the GM stated that the subject put his jacket back on and told the GM that he would ‘kick his ass,’ and then Johnathan (sic) walked out.”
The responding officer found Croft’s personal vehicle in the parking lot of a local mechanic shop, idling, with Croft inside, arrest documents say. Croft was unresponsive, so the officer knocked on the car window, asking to talk about the dealership incident, until Croft rolled down the window and took the key out of the ignition.
The officer noted Croft had “slurred speech, red bloodshot eyes, and his face was flushed and red.”
When told to exit the vehicle, Croft attempted to reinsert the keys into the ignition, the statement says.
Croft was removed from the car and resisted arrest, but was put in the back of the officer’s patrol vehicle. Officers say they located two open containers of alcohol and a firearm in a case in Croft’s vehicle.
Croft was booked into the Wasatch County jail without bail for investigation of alleged:
- Theft of firearm or operable motor vehicle, a second-degree felony
- Property damage/destruction — loss of more than $5,000, a second-degree felony
- Possession of a dangerous weapon by restricted person, a second-degree felony
- Burglary, a third-degree felony
- Unlawful control of vehicle damaged more than $500, a third-degree felony
- Driving under the influence, second offense in 10 years, a class A misdemeanor
- Carry a dangerous weapon under the influence of alcohol/drugs, a class B misdemeanor
- Interfering with a peace officer, a class B misdemeanor
- Open container/drinking alcohol in a vehicle, a class C misdemeanor
- Disorderly conduct after being asked to cease, a class C misdemeanor
