Brother of polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs arrested

KVOA News, Tucson/September 6, 2006

Kingman, Ariz. -- A brother of polygamous church leader Warren Jeffs was arrested by sheriff's deputies in Mohave County after he refused to cooperate when they asked to check the welfare of his son.

Deputies went to a trailer park in the community of Beaver Dam on Friday evening after the grown son of John B. Jeffs asked them to check on his 11-year-old brother, said Trish Carter, a sheriff's spokeswoman.

They found Jeffs, 38, of Colorado City, sitting in a vehicle in front of the trailer home, and he refused to answer questions or comply with deputies' commands and they had to pull him out, Carter said. Jeffs was arrested on resisting arrest and disorderly conduct charges.

"He did not cooperate with us in the least," Carter said Wednesday. "We were just there for an innocent little welfare check."

After Jeffs was taken into custody, deputies were able to check on the 11-year-old and found that he was not in danger and was unharmed, Carter said.

Jeffs appeared before a judge Tuesday and was released from custody with a Sept. 11 court date, Carter said.

Jeffs is a brother of Warren Jeffs, the leader of Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, based in Colorado City and nearby Hildale, Utah. Warren Jeffs, 50, was arrested last week outside Las Vegas on charges related to marriages he allegedly arranged between adult men and underage girls. He had been a fugitive for more than a year and was on the FBI's most wanted list.