A Southern Utah man, Ryan Michael Gaines, 32, from Santa Clara, Utah, has been charged with damaging government property. The indictment was unsealed on Tuesday.
Court documents reveal that on the morning of April 21, 2025, an ICE Transit Van at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Removal Operations office in St. George was found damaged. Surveillance footage captured a light-colored Jeep entering the parking lot. An adult male wearing a black balaclava and ski goggles was seen approaching the van and damaging both side mirrors.
The vehicle seen in the footage matched a Jeep registered to Gaines. Officers arrested him near his workplace later that day and located his Jeep at his residence along with ski goggles and a balaclava similar to those worn by the suspect.
Gaines appeared before a U.S. Magistrate Judge at the courthouse in St. George for his initial hearing on the charges.
The investigation is being conducted by the St. George Police Department and the FBI Salt Lake City Field Office's St. George Resident Agency. Brady Wilson, Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Utah, is prosecuting.
"An indictment is merely an allegation," stated officials, emphasizing that "all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law."
