- Mellisa Resma, 50, was charged with obstruction of justice in Cedar City.
- Her husband, Eric Resma, faces multiple felony charges accusing him of burglarizing a jewelry store.
- Mellisa allegedly aided an accomplice's escape and attempted to destroy evidence.
CEDAR CITY — The wife of a man arrested this week in connection with a jewelry store robbery in Cedar City has now been arrested and charged with helping her husband's friend avoid arrest.
Mellisa Renee Resma, 50, of Las Vegas, was charged Thursday in 5th District Court with obstruction of justice, a second-degree felony.
Her husband, Eric Drexel Resma, 47, was arrested and charged Monday in 5th District Court with aggravated burglary, a first-degree felony; aggravated assault resulting in serious injury and theft, second-degree felonies, plus several other charges.
Eric Resma and another man are accused of breaking into Clark and Linford Jewelers, 83 N. Main, assaulting the store owner and stealing $70,000 worth of jewelry. He was arrested following a car chase and crash in the Pintura area. The second man remained outstanding as of Friday.
After Eric Resma was booked into the Iron County Jail, police say he called his wife.
"Mellisa tells Eric over the phone that she is going into the cloud and factory resetting the phone so (police) can not use it. Melissa further tells Eric that she knows he was just driving and that 'Bart' was the one who went into the business and assaulted the guy," according to a police booking affidavit.
When Mellisa Resma arrived at the Cedar City police station to pick up a set of keys that police had taken from her husband, she was taken to an interview room by detectives. While being questioned, she named the other man involved in the robbery, according to the affidavit. As of Friday, formal charges had not been filed against that man.
Resma said the other man "showed up to her house in Las Vegas without shoes and told her that he and her husband Eric were in trouble. She gave him shoes and sent him on the way," the affidavit states.
Police say they had talked to Resma on the phone prior to the other man showing up, "and (she) still chose to aid in the fleeing of a wanted suspect," the affidavit alleges At the conclusion of the interview, she was taken into custody "for attempting to destroy evidence and aiding in the escape of" the second man.
In addition to burglary, assault and theft, Eric Resma was also charged with causing property damage, unauthorized possession of property and failing to stop for police, third-degree felonies; drug possession and failing to stop for police, class A misdemeanors; and having burglary tools and drug paraphernalia, class B misdemeanors.
