ST. GEORGE — After cutting his ankle monitor and fleeing the country, a northern Utah former police officer was recently picked up by the U.S. Marshals Service. Currently in federal custody in Southern California, he is awaiting extradition to Southern Utah for sentencing in a case filed in Washington County.
The defendant, 57-year-old Philip Alan Rogers, of Davis County, was awaiting sentencing on a weapons case filed by the Washington County Attorney’s Office in February when he reportedly cut his ankle monitor and fled the country, resulting in a warrant being issued for his arrest.
Rogers was charged with several offenses specific to what deputies found in Washington County on Feb. 3. Rogers was located inside a St. George restaurant with a juvenile reported as missing out of Layton City hours earlier.
He was later charged with one third-degree felony count of possession of a firearm by a restricted person after being found with a firearm and THC while also harboring a runaway. Officers also recovered a law enforcement badge during a search of the Rogers’ vehicle.
Rogers was arrested and booked into jail on the charges. Two weeks later, he was released from custody after pleading guilty to the weapons charge, and he was placed under electronic monitoring. A sentencing hearing was scheduled to take place in March.
On Feb. 23, authorities learned from the monitoring company the ankle device was possibly cut or removed. The GPS signal was lost after the device died. On Feb. 26, the company was able to reach Rogers, who reportedly claimed the device would not charge and that he was headed to St. George so they could check the monitor. Later, Rogers told the company he was returning to Clearfield to try and charge the device again and took a photo of the monitor still on his ankle.
When confronted the following day, after the ankle monitor went offline a second time, Rogers sent a text stating that he had left the United States and had flown to Cambodia. He then sent a photo of his plane ticket. He reportedly told the probation officer that he planned on living in the Philippines and would not be returning to the United States “to avoid prosecution and or incarceration,” according to a police report. On March 9, a warrant was issued after Rogers failed to appear for sentencing.
That hearing was continued until last Thursday. But on that day, the court was advised that Rogers was in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service and being held in federal custody in Barstow, California, where a federal correctional facility is located nearby.
Authorities say Rogers will be extradited back to Utah once he has recovered from an illness. A sentencing review hearing has been scheduled for May 9, to allow time for a presentence investigation to be completed prior to sentencing, District Judge John J. Walton said.
Layton City detectives are still investigating the case related to the missing juvenile that Rogers was found with during the stop in Washington County.
This report is based on statements from court records, police or other responders and may not contain the full scope of findings. Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.
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