A stolen BMW fleeing St. George police slammed into a rock while taking an I-15 on-ramp and burst into flames, and what officers found inside afterward exposed a sprawling identity theft and mail theft operation with victims scattered across the region. Investigators recovered over 100 stolen pieces of mail, 20 stolen bank cards, four laptops, a printer, a stolen handgun, and stacks of fraudulent IDs from the wreckage, according to a police booking affidavit. Two men believed to be from the Las Vegas area, 33-year-old Mitchell Steven Inclan and 42-year-old Stephen Michael Laughlin, now face a combined 92 charges in the case.
The case began on August 28, 2026, when a victim reported that unauthorized purchases exceeding $300 had been made using his and his wife's stolen credit cards at Buckle and Al's Sporting Goods inside Red Cliffs Mall in St. George, as reported by KSL News. St. George police began investigating the fraudulent charges at multiple mall stores, and detectives soon identified the BMW 530 from mall surveillance video. Officers then tracked the vehicle to a local Verizon store using automated license plate reader technology, a tool the department formally added to its patrol toolkit in April 2024 to cross-reference passing plates with national stolen-vehicle databases, according to KDXU.
A Fiery Crash Ends a Reckless Chase
Once police located the BMW, Laughlin drove away from a St. George parking lot, according to the affidavit, and the two men switched seats inside the car before Laughlin backed up and sped out of the lot. St. George police did not chase the vehicle because of its reckless driving, but the BMW ultimately crashed into a rock while taking an I-15 on-ramp. The vehicle caught fire, with its entire front engulfed in flames, per the same affidavit, before the fire department extinguished it.
One suspect was taken into custody at the scene and later identified as Laughlin. The second suspect ran into brush north of Southgate Golf Course, triggering a search that stretched roughly four hours before SWAT officers found Inclan unconscious and face up in water underneath brush, according to the affidavit cited by KSL News. Inclan was taken to a local hospital and booked into jail after his release. Hoodline previously covered the hours-long SWAT search that led to his capture near Auto Mall Drive, before formal charges had been filed.
What Detectives Found Inside the Burned Car
St. George Police Department detectives processing the BMW for evidence found stolen bags of mail containing checks and personal identifying information belonging to about a dozen people. The car also contained a printer and four laptops allegedly used to print fake IDs, along with a stolen handgun reported taken from Las Vegas, where the BMW itself had also been reported stolen. Investigators say the vehicle held ten ID cards bearing Laughlin's photo under different identities and six ID cards bearing Inclan's photo under different identities. Laughlin was also found carrying two additional identities in his pocket bearing his own photo.
Beyond the burned BMW, investigators obtained a search warrant for a second vehicle Inclan had dropped off for repairs in St. George, seizing additional stolen bank cards, passports, fake IDs, and vehicle titles, per KSL News. Booking documents also revealed that Inclan had a prior burglary conviction, which legally prohibited him from possessing a firearm — adding an illegal-possession element to the gun theft charge he now faces.
Dozens of Felony Counts for Both Men
Inclan was arrested for investigation of 57 crimes and has been charged with 35, including six counts of forgery, 20 counts of unlawful possession of a bank card, two counts of unlawful use of a financial card, theft of a vehicle, theft of a gun, mail theft, unlawfully possessing someone else's identification, failing to stop for police, reckless driving, and never having obtained a driver's license. Laughlin was arrested and charged with 41 crimes, including 12 counts of forgery, 20 counts of unlawful possession of a bank card, two counts of unlawful use of a financial card, theft of a vehicle, theft of a gun, mail theft, unlawfully possessing someone else's identification, failing to stop for police, reckless driving, and a learner's permit violation.
Following his arrest, Laughlin was booked into the Washington County Purgatory Correctional Facility in St. George and held without bail, which serves as the central detention facility for suspects arrested by St. George police and other Washington County law enforcement agencies. Under Utah Code § 76-6-501 and § 76-6-502, producing or possessing forged documents or document-making implements with intent to defraud is a third-degree felony carrying up to five years in state prison per count — a statute that could weigh heavily given the dozens of forgery and bank card counts filed against both men. The stolen mail found in the BMW could also draw federal scrutiny, since 18 U.S.C. § 1708 makes stealing or knowingly receiving stolen mail punishable by up to five years in federal prison and fines up to $250,000 per offense, though it remains unclear whether federal prosecutors will pursue charges alongside the state case in Washington County. All allegations against Inclan and Laughlin remain unproven pending judicial proceedings.
