Two arrested after gas station bathroom drug use, sexual activity

HURRICANE – Eric Johnson, of Toquerville, and Natalie Granger, of Hurricane, were arrested late Tuesday night after an employee of a gas station where the two had been, found syringes in the bathroom where they had spent a “substantial amount of time.”

Eric Johnson, of Torquerville Utah, booking photo posted Sept. 10, 2014 | Photo courtesy of Washington County Sheriff’s Office, St. George News
Eric Johnson, of Toquerville Utah, booking photo posted Sept. 10, 2014 | Photo courtesy of Washington County Sheriff’s Office, St. George News

According to a probable cause statement filed by Hurricane City Police Officer Kacen Gubler, Gubler responded to a report from a local gas station employee, who said that Johnson and Granger had been in the store, had went into the bathroom for a long time, and left with red needle marks in their arms.

Gubler went looking for Johnson and Granger based off of the description of the gas station attendant, and he found them as they were walking in front of Hurricane High School.

“I observed two syringes in Eric’s left hand,” Gubler wrote in the probable cause statement. “I told Eric to drop the syringes.”

The syringes, which contained a brown tinted liquid inside of them, were collected as evidence. The syringes were tested and came back positive for heroin.

Johnson also had three candy bars in his other hand that he claimed to have paid for at the gas station.

According to the probable cause statement, Johnson told Gubler that he may have dropped one of his syringes at the gas station and that he uses the syringes to take his prescription medication.

Natalie Granger, of Hurricane Utah, booking photo posted Sept. 10, 2014 | Photo courtesy of Washington County Sheriff’s Office, St. George News
Natalie Granger, of Hurricane Utah, booking photo posted Sept. 10, 2014 | Photo courtesy of Washington County Sheriff’s Office, St. George News

Gubler also located a protective order served against Granger, prohibiting her from having contact with Johnson.

Granger admitted that she and Johnson had gone into the gas station bathroom and while in the bathroom, she performed sexual acts on Johnson while he used drugs, the probable cause statement said. Gubler searched Granger and asked her if she had any drugs or syringes on her; she said she did not.

Johnson then admitted that he and Granger both went into the bathroom, used heroin and engaged in sexual acts, according to the probable cause statement.

Granger also told Gubler that the candy bars in Johnson’s hand were stolen.

Both were arrested and transported to the Washington County Purgatory Correctional Facility. At the facility a female corrections officer performed a search of Granger and located a syringe with heroin in it in Granger’s vaginal region.

Granger was charged with drug possession, a second-degree felony;  jail-inmate possession of contraband; possession of paraphernalia, a class A misdemeanor; and protective order violation, a class A misdemeanor.

On Wednesday, the Washington County Attorney’s Office filed charges on all counts except jail-inmate possession of contraband. According to Washington County Sheriff’s bookings, Granger’s bail stands at $13,886 and she is still in custody as this report is published.

Johnson was charged with drug possession, a second-degree felony; possession of drug paraphernalia, a class A misdemeanor; and retail theft, a class B misdemeanor. At the time of this report, according to the Washington County booking information, Johnson has been released on $12,526 bond.

Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.

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21 Comments

  • Drizzle September 11, 2014 at 12:08 pm

    Probably still a cleaner place to have sex than some of the hotels around here.

  • Koolaid September 11, 2014 at 12:12 pm

    A serious temporary lapse in judgement!

  • Billy September 11, 2014 at 12:32 pm

    What two fine, law abiding, tax paying citizens.

  • Richard September 11, 2014 at 12:47 pm

    Haha! Oh, I needed that laugh today. Thank you.

  • Lance September 11, 2014 at 1:10 pm

    They snatched a syringe out of her privates? Now that’s hard core!

    • Koolaid September 11, 2014 at 3:17 pm

      You’d probably need a penicillin shot after using that needle.

  • Mary September 11, 2014 at 1:27 pm

    Given the reported common use of heroin in Washington County high schools ,
    the story of these 2 should be shared as a cautionary tale of how bad / stupid you can get when getting high .
    It could be a good deterrent !

  • Just Sayin' September 11, 2014 at 4:36 pm

    After just reading the headline, I thought for sure this story was about Bobber and Koolaid! My bad!!

    • Koolaid September 11, 2014 at 6:05 pm

      Or was it about your mom and dad?

      • Bigot Koolaid September 11, 2014 at 8:01 pm

        I’m a Bigot and hate is my game

  • Vanessa September 11, 2014 at 5:32 pm

    I pray they are able to find the help they need and deserve. Addiction is a serious disease that robs so many of a beautiful life. There is absolutely nothing funny about this. I hope your loved ones never have to fight this demon.

  • utahbiller September 11, 2014 at 6:21 pm

    Am I reading a checkout tabloid? How much information do we really need to know?

  • Clean September 11, 2014 at 6:48 pm

    I hope they washed their hands before leaving the bathroom.

  • bobber September 11, 2014 at 6:56 pm

    I for one, am relieved to finally read about an incident in hurricane not involving the sexual molestation of domestic animals, as rare as it might be.
    ..
    I expect these two in the bishop’s office first thing Sunday!

    • Farmer Brown September 11, 2014 at 8:29 pm

      Bobber just I caught YOU with my live stock, doesn’t mean the rest of the fine folks like that kind of thing.

  • captn_spaulding September 11, 2014 at 9:38 pm

    Was the sexual act the syringe entering her vagina? Sounds like they were off to make a delivery to the high school, good Mormon kids love the horse.

  • Joanna September 12, 2014 at 11:00 am

    Gas station bathroom nookie? This guy is quite the Casanova.

  • Zonkerb October 7, 2014 at 10:43 pm

    That is soooooooooo freakin gross

  • Natalie Johnson October 16, 2014 at 9:00 pm

    These facts are NOT TRUE. If I was going to have sex with MY HUSBAND it would NOT be in a public bathroom thanks for twisting the facts!

    • Funny October 16, 2014 at 10:02 pm

      What a laugh! You picked the most benign part of the story to deny.

    • Bobber October 16, 2014 at 10:31 pm

      Report this info to your bishop. Nothing we can do here…

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