SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, March 26, 2023 (Gephardt Daily) — A man confronted for alleged shoplifting in an NPS store in Salt Lake City on Saturday is now in jail facing 20 charges, nine of them felonies.
Dustin Christensen, 31, became combative when confronted by a loss prevention officer, court documents say.
“Upon my arrival he was placed in handcuffs. Post arrest search of the A/P (arrested party), I located a 7-inch straight blade knife concealed in his waistband,” says the probable cause statement, filed by an officer of the Salt Lake City Police Department.
“The a/p also had 2 braided ropes with solid hard objects at the end of the rope
used by motorcycle gangs and other street gang as a blunt object weapon. Post arrest search of the A/P, I also located a meth pipe and (container) that looked like a battery with a crystal like substance inside the battery. I used a meth test kit and the substance tested positive for meth.”
During a records check on Christensen, the officer discovered the suspect was a non-compliant sex offender, his affidavit says.
“I found that the offender had failed to register in April of 2022 as well as he failed to register in Oct 2022. During my investigation I found that the A/P had left the state
of Utah in June of 2022 and had moved to Alaska and was there for at least a month based off his statements to me. The A/P has failed to update address for at least three times in the last year.
“This A/P is danger to the public because he is a non-compliant sex offender who is carrying weapon and drug with no regards to the safety of other people. This A/P is a flight risk because he had already once left the state and failed to update his sex offender registry,” the officer’s statement says, noting that Christensen has several theft convictions “which enhance this to a felony theft and I found that he has several drug conviction which also enhance the drug charge to a felony.”
Christensen was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail on suspicion of:
- Five counts of failure to register as a sex offender, a third-degree felony
- Two counts of unlawful possession/purchase/transfer of a weapon, a third-degree felony
- Possession of a controlled substance schedule I/II/analog, a third-degree felony
- Retail theft (shoplifting), a third-degree felony
- 10 counts of failure to maintain current ID card, sex/child abuse offender, a class A misdemeanor
- Use or possession of drug paraphernalia, a class B misdemeanor
A judge ordered Christensen to be held without bail.
