Texas man arrested in Utah, identified as suspect in Auburn hotel burglary, Placer deputies say

Vincent Moleski
·1 min read

A Texas man has been arrested on suspicion of burglarizing an Auburn hotel.

Jeffrey David Watts, 47, of Amarillo, Texas, was taken unto custody in Utah for failing to pay his fare to the Utah Transit Authority, which operates the public transit system in the Salt Lake City area.

The Placer County Sheriff’s Office previously attempted to locate a man, later identified as Watts, after the SpringHill Suites hotel in Auburn was burglarized earlier this year.

Watts refused to identify himself to Utah law enforcement, so fingerprint records were used to identify an outstanding federal warrant placed on him by the U.S. Marshals Service.

Watts is accused of tricking a SpringHill Suites employee into copying a key to a room, which was later burglarized.

He was charged with theft of services, false impersonation and identity theft.

Watts recently served a sentence in federal prison in connection with a Texas-based $5 million investment scheme and was wanted for violating his supervised release, according to the Sheriff’s Office.