HURRICANE – A traffic stop for speeding in Hurricane Saturday ended up netting Hurricane City Police three arrests and an estimated $50,000 in methamphetamine.
Around 3:15 p.m., Saturday, a Hurricane City Police officer observed a blue Dodge Avenger on State Street that appeared to be going faster than the posted 45 mph speed limit. When checked by radar, it was confirmed the Avenger was running at 65 mph, according to a statement from the Hurricane City Police Department.
When the officer pulled the car over, he encountered the driver, Joseph Hoyd, 41, of Winnemucca, Nevada, and two passengers, Donnie Bumgarner, 29, of Butte, Montana, and Brittany White, also of Butte Montana.
While speaking to Hoyd the officer noticed the man had “red sores and scabs all over his left arm” that are possible signs of consistent drug use, the officer wrote in a probable cause statement.
While writing a citation for speeding, the officer requested a K-9 unit to check the Avenger.
K-9 Paige and her handler arrived and the dog soon indicated there was a probable presence of narcotics in the car, according to the police statement and documents supporting the arrests.
A search of the car turned up substances believed to be cocaine, marijuana and methamphetamine. Additional items found included a 9mm 92F semi-automatic handgun with a 30-round magazine, a number of large knives, glass pipes, a digital scale and bags used in the distribution of narcotics.
Police attained a search warrant for a lock box found in the car. The lock box contained around a pound of methamphetamine and more than 2 dozen pills of two different controlled substances.
The estimated street value of the methamphetamine is estimated to be about $50,000, according to Hurricane Police.
Hoyd, White and Bumgarner were arrested and booked into the Washington County Purgatory Correctional Facility.
Each were charged with two second-degree felony counts of drug possession with intent to distribute, a third-degree felony for being a restricted person in possession of a firearm, and misdemeanor-level charges related to unlawful possession of a dangerous weapon and drug possession.
Hoyd was also charged with evidence tampering following his arrest due to attempting to hide drugs that were on his person, according to the press release.
“Joseph was charged with Evidence Tampering when he admitted to swallowing methamphetamine at the jail and attempting to hide drugs in the patrol vehicle,” according to the press release. “He was transported to Dixie Regional Medical Center due to the large amount of Methamphetamine ingested.”
White was also additionally charged with bringing contraband into the jail when a controlled substance pill was located on her person.
The three were scheduled to make their initial appearances in 5th District Court Monday afternoon.
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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Twitter: @MoriKessler
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Good dog, Paige, good dog! Dang tweekers.