Coach shocked former student charged with armed robbery

Nick Christensen

Thursday, March 3, 2005 | 9:25 a.m.

A local coach was stunned to learn that a player recently under his tutelage had been arrested this week in St. George, Utah.

Stanley Copeland and Davan Evans, both from Las Vegas, were among four men arrested and under investigation for two armed robberies. The two were members of the Dixie State basketball team, though they have been suspended.

Las Vegas coach Chris Faircloth, the team's defensive coordinator when Copeland was in high school, said the arrest didn't make sense.

"You see kids go into your program capable of doing what he's been charged with, and I never in a thousand years thought he'd do anything like this," he said. "He's a real intelligent kid. You'd never think he'd put himself in that type of situation."

According to the St. George Police Department, Copeland, Evans and two others were arrested for the robberies, one of which was early Monday at a movie theater and the other on Sunday night at an area Burger King.

Copeland, the 2003 Sun All-State Defensive Player of the Year in football, was a well-respected member of that year's state runner-up football team. He served as the Wildcats' unofficial spokesman as the team dealt with the tragedy of losing teammate Edward Gomez, who died in the Sunrise Region championship game in 2003.

Faircloth, who heard of the arrests Wednesday morning from students at his school, said the fact that it involved an investigation even further surprised him.

"It's not like one kid was caught and he ratted the other ones out," he said. "I'm still in shock. I talked to coach Cink (former Las Vegas coach Kris Cinkovich), and we're kind of waiting for them to drop the charges against him. It doesn't sound like that'll happen."

According to St. George police, three men robbed the Stadium 10 Cinemas near the Red Cliffs Mall at around 2 a.m. on Monday, ordering at gunpoint a night custodian to walk through the complex as they made off with cash.

Earlier that night, police alleged that the suspects tried to rob a Burger King restaurant near the Dixie State campus. That robbery was botched when the employee was able to escape and the suspects fled.

St. George police, acting on a tip, launched an investigation and charged Copeland, Evans, Marc Caputo of Las Vegas and Edwin Crichlow of Boston with aggravated robbery and theft. Police also believe the four were responsible for a February burglary in the St. George suburb of Bloomington.