By Tracie Sullivan, For Iron County Today
The wife of a man accused in a high-dollar jewelry store burglary is now facing her own felony charge.
Accused of trying to help her husband to destroy potential evidence, Melissa Renee Resma, 50, of Las Vegas, was booked into the Iron County Jail on July 30. She faces one count of attempted obstruction of justice, a second-degree felony conduct.
Resma’s husband, 47-year-old Eric Drexel Resma, is accused of breaking into Clark & Linford Jewelry in Cedar City during the early morning hours of July 27 along with another man. Police say the pair forced entry into the store, stole jewelry and other items valued at approximately $70,000, and fled the scene.
Later that morning, Utah Highway Patrol troopers spotted a vehicle believed to be connected to the burglary traveling north on Interstate 15. The driver — later identified as Eric Resma — exited the freeway at Pintura and crashed on a frontage road near Exit 30. Police say a second man in the vehicle fled on foot and remains at large.
According to the affidavit, that accomplice later arrived at Melissa Resma’s home in Las Vegas “without shoes” and told her that he and Eric were “in trouble.” Investigators allege she provided the man with shoes and sent him away.
While court documents include the name of the suspect still at large, Iron County Today is withholding it because no formal charges have been filed.
Resma’s charges stem from a recorded conversation she later had with her husband, in which she said she planned to remotely perform a factory reset on his cellphone to prevent it from being used by law enforcement.
“Melissa is being charged with obstruction of justice for attempting to destroy evidence and aiding in the escape of (the alleged accomplice),” the probable cause statement reads.
Both Eric and Melissa Resma are being held without bail in the Iron County Jail. Eric faces multiple felony charges, including aggravated burglary, and is scheduled to appear in 5th District Court on Aug. 19. Melissa’s next hearing is set for Aug. 12.