ST. GEORGE – A Colorado man stopped by police Tuesday for using a cellphone while driving was arrested on 13 felony charges, as well as several lesser charges, and is being held on $100,000 bail after officers allegedly found drugs, a loaded gun and several personal identifications belonging to other people, in his vehicle.

As a Washington County Sheriff’s deputy was passing a white pickup truck while traveling south on Interstate 15 near milepost 13, he noticed the driver of the truck using a mobile device, according to a probable cause statement filed by the Washington County Sheriff’s Office in support of the arrest. He pulled behind the truck and initiated a traffic stop.

The deputy talked with the driver, who was the only occupant in the vehicle, the statement read. The driver initially gave the deputy a false name but was later identified as Raymond Charles Schavey, 33, of Cortez, Colorado.

The deputy issued Schavey a warning for the traffic violation under the false name and asked him to step out of the vehicle to speak with him.

“While talking with the driver,” the arresting deputy wrote in the statement, “I noticed his belt and zipper were undone.”

The deputy then asked Schavey for consent to search his vehicle, according to the report. Schavey reportedly told the deputy he could use a narcotics K-9 to search the outside of the truck. When K-9 Tess was deployed on the vehicle, the dog alerted the deputy to the presence of drugs.

“I went back and spoke with the driver and explained that I was going to conduct a search of the vehicle,” the deputy wrote, “due to the alerts and indications that were presented by my dog.”

During the search, the deputy found a small, black handgun between the driver’s seat and the center console with a loaded magazine inserted in the gun but no bullet in the chamber, the report read. A records check indicated the gun had been reported stolen.

In addition to the firearm, the deputy located a plastic baggy, a bottle and a syringe allegedly containing methamphetamine and marijuana residue, drug paraphernalia and “a large amount of credit cards and ID cards that were scattered throughout the vehicle” that did not match the name of the driver, according to the statement.

Schavey later told the deputy that the identifications and credit cards were “just novelty cards.”

The cards reportedly included 12 financial cards with various names, along with Social Security cards and birth certificates, the report stated. A South Dakota and two Maryland driver’s licenses were also located with Schavey’s photo but other men’s names and dates of birth.

Schavey was arrested and transported to the Washington County Purgatory Correctional Facility.

According to the probable cause statement, while Schavey was being searched at the jail, a small bundle of a crystal-like substance was located inside Schavey’s jacket pocket. Schavey told deputies he didn’t know the substance was in his jacket and he didn’t have anything on him prior to being taken to the jail.

Schavey was charged with three second-degree felonies for theft by receiving stolen property and knowingly producing identification without authorization; 10 third-degree felonies for possession of a firearm by a restricted person and unlawful acquisition of a finance card; two class A misdemeanors for false personal information with the intent to be another actual person and drug possession; and two class B misdemeanors for possession of drug and drug paraphernalia.

Judge G. Michael Westfall, of the 5th District Court, ordered $100,000 bail for Schavey’s release pending trial.

He was found indigent by the court during his initial court appearance Tuesday and will be represented by court-appointed attorney Aric Cramer. He is scheduled to make his next court appearance Dec. 28.

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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