SWAT in St. George responded to reports of a man was holding his seven children hostage on Saturday around 11 p.m.
Our news partners at ABC4 Utah covered the incident in an article written by Ryan Bittan.
Bittan wrote, “St. George Police responded to a hotel room where a man was holding his seven children hostage on Saturday. At around 11 p.m. on Sept. 7, police responded to a domestic violence situation at a St. George hotel located on the 1100 block of South Bluff Street. Officers found Jonathan Dayzie and a woman, who were both engaged in a physical fight.”
Dayzie then barricaded himself inside the hotel room and refused to speak to any of the officers on site. He then moved onto threatening his own children.
Bittan wrote, “Dayzie’s seven children were also located inside the room. Dayzie reportedly threatened to hurt them during the incident. ‘It was determined that an aggravated assault, kidnapping, and several other charges occurred between a female and Jonathan. Jonathan was also actively holding their seven children against their will in the whole hotel room and had threatened to hurt their children as well during the incident. SWAT was called due to the barricaded/hostage situation,’ the release states.”
It was then SWAT took action and were able to get the children back into the welcome arms of their mother.
Bittan wrote, “ Dayzie reportedly would not surrender and SWAT made what police called “an energetic breach,” to gain access to the room. The children were then released to the woman — who was their mother. Medical personnel cleared everyone on scene of injuries.”
Dayzie was then arrested and booked into Washington County Jail with several charges related to the incident.
