3 Charged in Theft of Joseph Smith, Brigham Young Statue

​Three people involved in the theft of an 800-pound bronze statue of Joseph Smith and Brigham Young have been charged.

​According to charging documents, the defendants did intend to do what Salt Lake City police feared and “cut the statue up and (sell) the pieces as scrap metal.”

William Ford, 47, of Sandy, and Jacob Ferguson, 40, who is listed as homeless, were charged Thursday in 3rd District Court with theft, a first-degree felony. Larry Forness, 52, is listed as a co-defendant.

On May 23, a statue worth an estimated $125,000 of the LDS Church leaders sitting on a park bench was stolen from the back dock area of the Northgate Business Park, 825 N. 300 West, just before 4 a.m.

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