LEHI, Utah — Two suspects have been arrested after they allegedly dragged a man behind a vehicle after he attempted to stop the couple from robbing a Lehi hobby shop.
Riley Deborah Shelman and Gavin Drake Huss were both arrested Tuesday following an anonymous call from a tipster.
Lehi Police shared that they received the tip Monday from someone who identified Huss and Shelman through footage of the incident posted to social media by the store.
The incident, which occurred at A Mad Mans Hobby on Friday, has left Mark Willson hospitalized with numerous injuries.
“He's a character. He likes to joke around,” said owner Teresa Mott of Willson. “He loves helping customers. I mean, he's just a great employee.”
Mott said the two people, believed to be Shelman and Huss, walked into the store on Jan. 2.
“They came in, purchased a part, then proceeded just to look around the store, which is normal,” Mott said. "And then the female left and held the door while the male grabbed a $1,000 car kit and walked out the door, and I turned to Mark, I says, 'Hey, they just stole that,' and so he followed them out."
The suspects' alleged black truck was parked out front with another car behind it.
“He went to go tell them, 'Hey, we know you stole that. Come back in or give me the item,'” explained Shellie Vincent, Willson's stepdaughter. "He saw backup lights and he grabbed onto the tailgate to jump up so he did not get smashed in between the two vehicles… They sped off with him on the truck.”
At one point, the truck stopped, and Willson tried to get off.
“As he was coming down, they took off again, and it caught his legs and pulled them into the wheel well,” Vincent said. "It makes me sick. I don't know how anyone could do that.”
“I was looking up and down the road trying to find him,” Mott said. "One of the witnesses came up to me and says, 'Hey, you know, he's down the road,' and I looked down the road about 400 yards, and he was just lying there.”
“He sat up, well, tried to sit up — he realized his legs were backwards,” Vincent said.
Willson has been in the hospital ever since and is set to undergo multiple surgeries with a long road to recovery still ahead.
“He has two broken legs… he has a right broken arm, as well as his nose and facial bones,” Vincent said.
Mott said the store is doing what they can to get by, but it doesn’t feel the same.
“I miss him terribly and wish him the best of luck,” she said through tears.
“He wishes that they would just turn themselves in,” Vincent said. "It’s not worth it. That item was not worth almost taking a life.”
After receiving the tip on the alleged suspects, detectives compared security footage with social media images of Huss and Shelman and confirmed they were the couple at the center of the search. Investigators used the Automatic License Plate Reader system to locate the vehicle that belonged to them and found they often traveled between Deer Valley Resort and Heber City.
Detectives went to an intersection frequently crossed by the suspect's truck and witnessed it drive by. The Utah Highway Patrol later stopped the vehicle on Highway 40 and arrested Shelman. According to police, Huss was not in the vehicle.
Shelman faces charges of retail theft and failure to remain at the scene of an accident involving serious injury and is being held without bail.
Huss, according to police, turned himself in to officials in Provo on Tuesday. He faces charges of failure to remain at the scene of an accident involving serious injury, retail theft, and driving on a suspended or revoked license. Huss is being held without bail.
The family started a GoFundMe to help with medical bills.
