Arrests made following theft of A-10 Warthog aircraft statue in Clearfield
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- A statue of an F-35 fighter jet sponsored by North Davis Fire sits near the intersection of State Street and Center Street in Clearfield on Friday, July 11, 2025.
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- The concrete base of an A-10 Warthog statue stolen near the intersection of Center Street and State Street in Clearfield is pictured Friday, July 11, 2025.
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- The concrete base of an A-10 Warthog statue stolen near the intersection of Center Street and State Street in Clearfield is pictured Friday, July 11, 2025.
CLEARFIELD — Two people were arrested this week in connection with the theft of a statue depicting a Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II, also known as the A-10 Warthog, near the Clearfield city center Tuesday.
Autumn Breann Baker, 21, and Kellen Murphy, 24, were apprehended by the Clearfield Police Department and booked into the Davis County Jail on suspicion of second-degree felony theft and property damage/destruction, a class B misdemeanor.
According to arrest documents, police received a report of a theft occurring near the intersection of State Street and Center Street on July 8. Officers later obtained video footage from a nearby business showing an SUV arrive, after which a woman and a man exited the vehicle, broke the statue off of its concrete base and placed it inside the vehicle before driving away.
Per an affidavit of probable cause, investigators used license plate readers to identify a vehicle in the area as belonging to Baker, whose driver’s license photo and physical characteristics matched those of the woman seen exiting the vehicle in the video of the alleged theft.
Authorities reportedly discovered through investigation that Baker is an active-duty military service member. According to the affidavit, other members of her unit later identified another man appearing in the surveillance footage. Investigators also obtained an address for Baker and a search warrant was executed at the residence, where the A-10 statue was found by police.
Meanwhile, the man identified by Baker’s unit was interviewed by police, during which he reportedly stated that he was driving the vehicle involved in the theft. Per arrest documents, the man said Baker and Murphy had broken the statue from its base and placed it in the vehicle. He reportedly provided photos of Baker and Murphy in the clothing seen in the obtained video.
Murphy was later interviewed by police and stated that the group had left a bar in Ogden and traveled to the Davis County area that night, according to an affidavit. He reportedly said he had consumed alcohol and could not fully recall the events of the night, stating he was “too tired and intoxicated to remember.”
He did, however, admit to being the man in the picture provided to police by the driver of Baker’s vehicle. Baker declined to provide a statement to police, invoking her right to counsel.
The aircraft statues were installed around Clearfield last year as part of its rebranding as “Utah’s Military City.” As of Friday morning, the A-10 warthog statue that was taken had not been reattached to its base near the Davis County Library’s Clearfield branch. The stolen statue was valued at $8,000.
Clearfield City officials could not be reached for comment on this story.
