WASHINGTON, Utah, May 14, 2025 (Gephardt Daily) -- A warrant served before dawn Wednesday has resulted in a residence being condemned and dozens of residents, including three children, being removed.
The warrant was served at 4:30 a.m. Wednesday. Officers responded to the house, at 102 W. 200 South.
A Washington City Police news release says the search led to "locating multiple suspects with fraudulent identity documents, illegal narcotics, and a total of 27 people residing inside a single-family residence. Of the 27 people, three were children under the age of 12," who were living with their parents.
"Also, we became aware of unsafe and unsanitary living conditions inside the home due to multiple unpermitted remodels, additions, and the number of occupants residing inside the home."
"Some rooms had exposed electrical panels/wires, no windows for bedrooms, kitchens in many small rooms built in as bedrooms, and many other alarming items. Inside one basement room, the footings were being exposed and dirt removed from the ground in what appeared to be efforts to make more room for additional occupants of the room," the release says.
"There are no permits on record for any of these structural or remodeling changes."
The release says that due to the nature of the incident, "numerous federal agencies responded to assist," including the United States Marshal's Office, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Homeland Security Investigations and others.
"Approximately two adult males were arrested for multiple counts of possession of fraudulent identity documents, one adult female with statewide warrants for narcotics possession, and one adult male has been referred for possession of fraudulent identification documents," the news release says.
"Multiple other individuals were detained by ICE due to their immigration status, and several other individuals were released."
The Washington City building inspector and Washington City code enforcement officials were contacted to assess the structure, which "was deemed to be unsafe and unsanitary for occupancy. Thus, the home has been condemned at this time."
The investigation is ongoing, the release says, adding "We would like to thank all agencies who assisted with this incident."
