MANTI, Utah, Feb. 10, 2023 (Gephardt Daily) — Police say a 36-year-old man calling himself “Elohim” stole a truck from Snow College, then broke into and barricaded himself inside “his house,” the Manti Utah Temple.
Sanpete County sheriff’s deputies were notified by a security guard at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints temple early Thursday that a man was trying to get inside. The pioneer-era temple at 200 E. 510 North has been closed since 2021 for renovation.
An on-call deputy responded and located the man near the north entrance of the temple, according to a probable cause statement filed in Manti’s 6th District Court.
When the deputy identified himself as law enforcement, the man responded that “he did not give a s— and that he needed to get inside the building,” the affidavit from the Sanpete County Sheriff’s Office states.
The deputy followed the man to the north entrance of the temple, where a “makeshift plywood door was secured with a paddle lock,” the statement continues. The man then “ordered” the deputy to open the door any way possible, including “shooting the lock off for him so he could get inside the building.”
“I told him this was not his property and that he was trespassing,” the deputy wrote. “He yelled at me, telling me that this was his house.”
When the deputy asked the man’s name, he looked to the sky and yelled, “My name is Elohim!” The man also provided his legal name, saying he used to go by that name but he “was now dead,” the affidavit states.
The man was able to pull open a wooden panel next to the door, creating a large enough opening for him to enter the temple, according to the deputy’s statement.
Several deputies then began searching the temple for the man, who had barricaded himself in a room, the affidavit states. With permission from the supervisor of construction, deputies broke down the room’s door and arrested the man, according to the sheriff’s office.
“During the arrest, [the man] resisted the officers placing him in custody,” the statement continues.
A gate at the temple also was damaged during the break-in, according to the sheriff’s office. No other damage was reported.
Deputies later learned Snow College police had video footage of the man entering a maintenance facility at 12:35 a.m. Thursday, taking a side-by-side UTV and driving around the property, according to the sheriff’s office.
About 2:15 a.m., the man left the property in a Snow College truck by breaking through a metal gate near 100 North and 300 East, the affidavit states.
The man had a fuel card and garage door opener belonging to Snow College at the time of his arrest, according to the sheriff’s office. The truck was found on the temple property, the affidavit states.
The man was arrested for investigation of:
- Receive or transfer of a stolen vehicle, a second-degree felony
- Receive financial transaction card with intent to use, a second-degree felony
- Two counts of criminal mischief, class B misdemeanors
- Two counts of criminal trespass, class B misdemeanors
- Theft, a class B misdemeanor
- Interference with an arresting officer, a class B misdemeanor
- Failure to stop at command of law enforcement, a class A misdemeanor
He is is being held without bail in the Sanpete County jail.
