A Vernal man is facing a felony charge for allegedly stealing dirt and lots of it. According to the Probable Cause Statement, the man used heavy excavating equipment last fall over a period of time to move dirt “under the guise of performing some property repairs and improvements for the victim.” He did it, however, “without permission or authority from the victim, removing approximately 33 dump truck loads of dirt/earth” and then “sold the dirt to other individuals to grade their driveways.” The man took approximately 435 cubic yards of dirt from the victim’s property for a value of about $6,600 and with a total project cost of $10,800 to include refinishing the hillside where the dirt was removed from. 49-year-old Jeremy Merrell is charged with 2nd Degree Felony Theft and is scheduled to appear in court on April 28th.
