Naked intruder shot by Iron County homeowner, authorities say


Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

OLD IRON TOWN, Iron County — A St. George man is in custody after authorities say he was shot while trying to break into an Iron County home while naked Tuesday afternoon.

Iron County sheriff's deputies responded to a report of a burglary in progress at a residence located at 4000 S. 17800 West, which is southwest of Cedar City, about 12:40 p.m., according to Iron County Sheriff's Lt. Del Schlosser.

He said Christian Holbert, 24, of St. George, "kicked the front door in" and entered the home owned by an elderly couple. Holbert was then shot multiple times by one of the homeowners at some point during the burglary attempt, according to Schlosser.

Schlosser added Holbert had taken off his clothes and was completely naked during the burglary attempt and was also acting "irrational" before he left the house.

Responding deputies spotted Holbert on the roadway and attempted to take him into custody, but he didn't comply with authorities, Schlosser said. A Taser was deployed on him multiple times before he was apprehended, Schlosser added.

Holbert was treated for his injuries at the scene and then flown to Dixie Regional Medical Center in serious but stable condition. He is expected to be booked into the Iron County Jail once he is released.

Investigators believe drugs may have factored in the incident, Schlosser said. He added that the case was different than anything the agency is used to dealing with.

"This is very odd," he said.

Authorities were not expecting charges to be filed against the couple who lived at the home.

"(It) looks like it was all in defense of themselves," Schlosser said. "With their age and their disabilities, they were in fear for their lives. They were scared something was going to happen."

Court records show Holbert has a lengthy history of mostly traffic-related tickets in Utah. He was arraigned in 5th District Court on Aug. 8 after a warrant was issued for his arrest in March for failing to appear in court in a traffic case, according to records.


Editor's note: This article initially had "Iron Town" as one word. That has been corrected as two words. "Dixie Regional Medical Center" was also incorrectly spelled as "Dixie Region." That has also been corrected.

Most recent Utah stories

Related topics

UtahSouthern Utah
Carter Williams is an award-winning reporter who covers general news, outdoors, history and sports for KSL.com.

STAY IN THE KNOW

Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

KSL Weather Forecast