Hildale police arrest ex-FLDS member
 Ross Chatwin apprehended while evicting brother from upstairs residence
 
By Rachel Olsen
The Spectrum
Ross Chatwin

Chatwin

ST. GEORGE -- Ross Chatwin believed he was within his rights to change the locks on an upstairs apartment at his residence after a Mohave County court deemed he had a right to reside there.

However, Hildale police officers on Tuesday arrested Chatwin, a former member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, on a first-degree charge of criminal trespass.

Chatwin changed the locks in the middle of a civil matter regarding the eviction of his brother Steven, who lives in the upstairs of the home in which Chatwin resides. The home is owned by the FLDS church's financial arm, the United Effort Plan.

The FLDS church, based in the twin communities of Hildale and Colorado City, expelled Chatwin from the church, which led to a civil matter as to whether Chatwin should leave the UEP-owned home.

Situated on a red dirt road in Colorado City, the 1,700-square-foot home the Chatwin family resides in was built by Chatwin's brother David, who left the church to follow Winston Blackmore, leader of a branch of the FLDS church in Canada. Before moving in on Jan. 2, 2001, Ross Chatwin said he traded a 1,000-square-foot home with a large garage with the UEP.

In May, a court ordered that although the UEP owned the disputed home, it must allow Chatwin "to retain the residence" for his lifetime, until he abandoned the home or until he received just compensation for his investments in the residence.

If Chatwin wants control of the entire house he must now evict his brother Steven, a civil matter that will be the subject of a hearing Friday in Kingman, Ariz.

Rod Parker, attorney for the FLDS church and UEP, said Steven is claiming the same thing Ross Chatwin claimed when the UEP tried to evict him -- that Chatwin would be unjustly enriched if the brother was evicted because of his investments in the residence.

Trying to pursue an eviction of his brother, Ross Chatwin entered through the upstairs window and changed the locks while Steven was away, said Chatwin's wife, Lori.

Lori Chatwin said when Steven came back Tuesday he was very upset and called the police. Eventually, Lori Chatwin said the officers asked her husband to see the court documents detailing Ross Chatwin's right to retain the residence. He refused, saying he wanted his attorney present before they attempted to interpret the court order.

The officers later told Ross Chatwin that if he would let his brother back into the residence, they would not arrest him. Lori Chatwin said her husband refused, and officers arrested him.

Later, she said Steven entered the upstairs residence the same way her husband had, opened the door and again changed the locks.

Ross Chatwin, who was excommunicated last November, chose to fight the FLDS church, which teaches polygamy as a central tenet, when many of those expelled by self-proclaimed prophet Warren Jeffs have left town, leaving behind their houses, wives and children.

The church expelled Ross Chatwin because he pursued two teenage girls for plural marriages, Parker said. Ross Chatwin then ignored the church's letter seeking to collect property taxes and the eviction notice. And despite Jeffs' warning, Lori Chatwin, Ross' only wife for 12 years, chose to stay with him.

Ross Chatwin said he never pursued girls for plural marriages. Instead, he said, one girl came to his home seeking help to leave her "oppressive" home.

In the state of Arizona, a charge of first-degree criminal trespass includes "entering or remaining unlawfully in or on a residential structure." Ross Chatwin's charge is a class 6 felony in Arizona.

An attempt by The Spectrum to reach Hildale Police Chief Sam Roundy was unsuccessful Wednesday.

The FLDS church traces its roots to Joseph Smith, founder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Since 1890, the LDS church has officially abolished plural marriage and members practicing polygamy have been excommunicated and barred from LDS temples.
 
TheSpectrum.com
Originally published Thursday, September 9, 2004
 
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