ST. GEORGE — Three individuals from Missouri and Iowa were arrested by a Utah Highway Patrol trooper after stolen guns and marijuana were allegedly found inside a vehicle on Interstate 15 late Tuesday night.
Just before midnight, a Utah Highway Patrol trooper stopped a vehicle heading south on I-15 near mile marker 2 and became suspicious as he spoke to the driver when he noticed the odor of “burnt marijuana coming from the car.”
The occupants were asked to exit the vehicle and the trooper began searching it, UHP Sgt. Jake Hicks said.
He found two firearms, a Kel Tech pistol with two magazines that was inside of a bag of clothing and a Taurus pistol inside a shoe box containing a pair of men’s Air Jordan shoes.
Hicks said the trooper also found marijuana and drug paraphernalia.
The trooper discovered the guns were reported stolen in Iowa after running the serial numbers through the Cedar Communications Center.
“If there’s any question, particularly when the firearm is located inside of a vehicle during a stop like what happened early this morning, we will run them to make sure they haven’t been reported stolen somewhere,” Hicks said.
The driver, Keonte Henderson, 22, of St. Louis, Missouri, was arrested for metabolite DUI, a misdemeanor offense which doesn’t require impairment, but only requires that a controlled substance be in the body of an individual while they are driving.
“You’re not allowed to drive with any measurable amount of a controlled substance in your body, ” Hicks said.
Two passengers were also arrested:
- Marquez Clayton, 25, of Fort Douglas, Iowa, was booked on two second-degree felony offenses – theft of a firearm and possession of a weapon by a Category II restricted person, as well as a misdemeanor drug possession offense and possession of paraphernalia.
- Maddie L. Dickerson, 27, of Fort Dodge, Iowa, was booked into jail on a second-degree felony theft of a firearm.
Another passenger was not arrested.
According to the probable cause statement filed with the court, Clayton was overheard asking Dickerson to “take the gun charge” since she has no felony convictions, while he has “an extensive criminal record.”
Instead, both were charged with the firearms offense after the Taurus was found packed in the shoe box containing men’s sized shoes, and Dickerson told officers she had purchased the Kel Tech in Iowa.
All three were booked into Purgatory Correctional Facility.
On Wednesday morning, Henderson pleaded guilty to the DUI Metabolite charge during a video appearance in 5th District Court. Clayton was scheduled to appear Wednesday afternoon and Dickerson on Friday.
Clayton and Dickerson remain in jail at the time of this report.
Hicks commended the trooper’s effort in the arrest, saying his proactive work “keeps the roadways and communities safer by getting stolen guns and criminals off the street.”
This report is based on statements from police or other responders and may not contain the full scope of findings. 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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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2019, all rights reserved.
Great bust officer!
Good guys 3, thugs 0.
It absolutely was ..! Job well done UHP
Nice work officers! Score one for the good guys.
Folks need to know not to bring that nonsense here. UHP will step to you quick!
Just proves profiling is necessary. Great job!
Not only unnecessary but unconstitutional.
Sorry, I clicked on the wrong article. I assumed you meant racial profiling which wasn’t in the context of this article or inherent to your comment. My apologies.
No problem. I definitely did not mean racial profiling. Drug users have their own profile and it”s very noticeable af times.
I will say the profiling is not 100%. For example, I may have confused a few cops in my life. I have some mannerisms as a stoner or tweaker but I’m drug free! I had mannerisms of a stoner before I ever took a hit. ???
But keep up the good work! St George has the best police force! They really do.
Nice job, officers! Get ready – you’ll have to go catch them again, b/c our court system is about to let them go in 3… 2… 1…
Dont be surprised if they were out before you reached 2 ..as unpopular as it is. in this country criminals have constitutional protected and guaranteed rights as the same as anybody else
Yep ! if you are going to be a criminal this is the country to be in
I would just like to thank St George news for removing an earlier comment…..thank you
The girl has a 10K bail with “no payments made” but doesnt show the red “IN CUSTODY” The tattoo neck guy bail is only 680 and same thing.
The other guy got stacked, his bail looks like 35K and he shows as “in custody”… I guess for the weekend at least.