Police release images of suspect who broke into family‘s car at airport, then their home

LEHI, Utah — It has been two weeks of cleaning up for the Brown family after their home was trashed by a thief who managed to get their garage door opener and their address from their car parked at the airport.

“The pain and anguish of having to redo everything, it’s like starting your life all over,” Blake Brown said.

Earlier this month, the family came home from a week-long trip to find their car was parked on a different level of the airport parking garage and was rummaged through.

When they drove home, they realized someone had broken in and trashed every room in the house, with an estimated $15,000 worth of items stolen. The family’s second car was also stolen.

Family’s car broken into at SLC airport, thieves use garage door opener to break into home

This week, KSL TV received images, through a GRAMA request, of the suspect caught on surveillance video, driving the Brown’s car at the airport parking garage.

“I’ve never seen this guy before in my life,” Brown said when seeing the suspect’s images for the first time. “What a dirt bag!”

Brown recognized the suspect wearing prototype shoes that were in the family’s home.

“I had them in my office because we were working on a project for them,” Brown, who is the vice president of Utah-based shoe company Kizik, said laughing.

Seeing the shoes on the suspect leads the family to believe the suspect must have broken into the car, gone to the family’s Lehi home, and come back to the airport a second time with the car’s second key, which allowed the suspect to drive it.

“They must’ve came to our house first, then tried to go back. I don’t know, these are the things I’m trying to make sense of,” Brown said.

Do you recognize this man?

Police say he’s responsible for breaking into a car at the airport and stealing the family’s garage door opener to get into their house while they were on vacation.

Full story coming up at 10 PM @KSL5TV pic.twitter.com/JsXIvdK3Go

— Ashley Moser (@AshleyMoser) June 29, 2023

The Lehi Police Department said the images of the suspect are from June 6 — four days after the family parked their car.

“The video just shows him casually going down the stairs,” Jeanteil Livingston, spokesperson for the Lehi Police Department, said. “I think he was trying to blend in with the public.”

Lehi police are looking into if anyone else was involved.

The suspect is a white man in his late 30s to 40s, with brown hair and a tattoo on his right leg. He was also seen driving a dark blue Kia Sportage.

Police do not know who the owner of the vehicle is and if they are involved. If you recognize the suspect or have any information, call police.