- Thaddeus Dale Curtis, 53, faces 51 felony charges in Emery County.
- Police reported seizing four dozen weapons from Curtis, a restricted person, on his property.
- Authorities said they also found drugs and paraphernalia during the search.
CASTLE DALE — An Emery County man who is not allowed to have guns is now facing more than 50 felonies after police reported finding four dozen weapons on his property.
Thaddeus Dale Curtis, 53, was charged Friday in 7th District Court with 50 counts of being a restricted person in possession of a weapon, 48 second-degree felonies and two third-degree felonies; drug possession, a third-degree felony; failing to stop for police and unlawful possession of a prescription drug, class A misdemeanors; plus interfering with police, marijuana possession and two counts of possession of drug paraphernalia, class B misdemeanors.
On Tuesday, an Emery County sheriff's deputy spotted Curtis walking outside his residence and stopped him because of his active warrant, a police booking affidavit states.
Curtis told the deputy he had paperwork that had his court date written on it and walked inside his residence to get the papers. The deputy followed.
"While inside the residence, Thaddeus made a phone call to his mother and talked to her about the court date and warrant. His mother had told him to do what we asked and he hung up the phone and said he was 'not going back up to the jail,'" according to the affidavit.
Curtis then went to an upstairs bedroom and locked himself inside. A second deputy was called to the scene, but neither could convince Curtis to come out.
"After giving Thaddeus numerous chances to come out of the room, the decision was made to make forced entry into the room. Once the door was opened and Thaddeus was placed into custody, I observed several firearms in plain view in the room," the arresting deputy wrote in the affidavit.
After learning that Curtis had a previous drug-related conviction and was not allowed to have guns, the deputies obtained a search warrant for the residence, an outbuilding and his vehicle.
"During the search of the residence, 48 firearms were located, other 3D-printed assault rifle lowers were located and 3D-printed pistol lowers. During the search we also located a large quantity of a crystal like substance suspected to be methamphetamines, hypodermic needles containing suspected methamphetamine," and other paraphernalia, the affidavit alleges. "We also located several rounds of ammunition in the residence and inside the outbuilding."
Inside his vehicle, police found "an assault rifle lower and four loaded handgun magazines," according to the affidavit.
On March 16, Curtis was charged in a separate case in 7th District Court with forgery, a third-degree felony. In that case, Curtis is accused of trying to bail out of jail by paying with money that "was a prop for motion pictures." He was also convicted in 2000 of automobile homicide, court records state, and was sentenced to one year in jail.
