ST. GEORGE, Utah, Sept. 5, 2020 (Gephardt Daily) — A St. George woman has been jailed on an aggravated assault charge after police say she admitted to threatening neighbors with a machete.
Michelle Renee Dorrity, 56, remains in jail after being booked Aug. 31 on the third-degree felony charge. Her bail is set at $5,010.
St. George police were called to the scene at about 6:40 p.m., and reported to the area of 1500 N. Dixie Downs Road. The reporting party, identified here as B., said the suspect, Dorrity, had been making threatening gestures with a large knife.
B. said Dorrity had been harassing her and her boyfriend at their residence over a period of time. B. said Dorrity had confronted the boyfriend, who does not speak English, as he stood on the porch. The boyfriend asked B. to come outside.
“She reported that during this time Michelle went back to her home and retrieved a machete. (B.) stated that Michelle came out past her front porch to a nearby car with the machete in hand. (B.) reported that Michelle had gotten to approximately 5 to 10 feet (from) her and her boyfriend. (B.) stated that Michelle continued to yell at the two and point the machete at them. (B.) said at that point she began to call the police and Michelle returned inside her home.”
The officer then went to Dorrity’s house to ask her what had happened.
“Michelle stated that the neighbors had been causing problems and knocking on their windows. Michelle stated that she went outside to confront them about the issue. Michelle stated that they got into an argument. Michelle stated that she went back inside the home and retrieved the machete and came back outside.”
Dorrity gave the officer permission to enter her residence and retrieve the machete, which was on the living room floor.
“I observed the machete was approximately 2 feet long with a taped handle on it,” the probable cause statement says.
B. told the officer she and her boyfriend had not been near Dorrity’s home, and had not knocked on the windows.
Post Miranda, Dorrity admitted she approached the other residence with a machete and pointed it at the couple while yelling at them. Her goal was to make them stop knocking on the windows of the residence she shares with her mother, and to secure her mother’s safety, she said.
Asked if she had seen the person who knocked on her windows, she said she had not.
Dorrity was cuffed and booked into jail. The arresting officer noted that Dorrity was on probation or parole at the time of the incident.
