ST. GEORGE — Three suspects were arrested Wednesday following a traffic stop near Exit 8 on northbound Interstate 15, after an officer noticed a broken tail light that was taped over on a pickup with Colorado plates.

The incident began shortly before 1 p.m., when a Washington City Police officer participating in a drug interdiction operation and sitting stationary alongside I-15 near the Utah-Arizona border noticed a black Ford pickup truck heading north. The driver appeared to reduce the truck’s speed quickly, evidenced by the front end of the truck that appeared to dip down, which was consistent with a strong application of the brakes, the officer noted in the probable cause statement filed in support of the arrest.

The officer also noted the maneuver made it obvious the driver “noticed my presence and dropped its speed,” and as the truck passed by, the officer saw it had Colorado plates and several large objects hanging from the rearview mirror that appeared to obstruct the driver’s view through the windshield.

When the officer got behind the pickup he noticed one of the tail lights was cracked and partially covered with red tape, which is when the truck was stopped near the St. George Boulevard Exit. He asked the driver, 49-year-old Eric Thomas, of Delta, Colorado, to sit in his patrol vehicle while the citations were being issued.

The officer also noticed the passenger sitting directly behind the driver in the backseat, later identified as 40-year-old Bailey Johann, also from Delta, appeared to be under the influence of “heavy narcotics,” the report states, and also had multiple sores that were visible and consistent with drug use.

The front seat passenger was identified as Ernie Daniel Davila, also 40, a California resident living in Holtville, a small town in Imperial County located roughly 10 miles north of the Mexican border.

The officer became suspicious while speaking to the driver, who reportedly made several inconsistent statements while going over his travel summary, and when he asked to search the pickup, the suspect reportedly denied consent.

Homeland Security was contacted and responded to the scene to assist while the officer deployed a K-9 to perform a free-air sniff around the outside of the pickup; during which, the animal indicated the possible presence of narcotics near the front driver’s side door of the vehicle.

All three occupants were detained at that point so officers could search the pickup, which is when the driver said they had all consumed cocaine inside of the pickup earlier that day, adding there was nothing illegal in the truck at the moment, he said, other than some marijuana, according to the report.

During the search, officers noticed a large safe in the bed of the pickup and inside they found several large bundles of suspected methamphetamine that were packaged in plastic bags that were also wrapped in plastic. The bundles were estimated to weigh as much as 3 pounds combined, the officer noted.

They also recovered a prescription bottle with Davila’s name and information on it, as well as a smaller bundle of a black tar-like substance that appeared to be heroin and was estimated to weigh roughly 29 grams.

During a search of the truck’s cab, authorities found a pink cloth bag with suspected fentanyl pills inside, along with a small amount of suspected marijuana. And in the backseat area directly behind the front passengers seat, officers recovered a second safe that contained another large bundle wrapped in black duct tape that contained suspected meth with an estimated weight of 1 pound.

Also recovered was a package containing a large number of blue pills that appeared to be fentanyl, which was later estimated to be at least 2,000 pills.

Police say when the officer spoke to Thomas for a second time, he said he and his business partner were the only individuals that drive the truck, adding that both safes belonged to his business partner who had died over a month ago. He also said he had no idea what was in either safe, since they did not belong to him. He said his partner had placed both safes in the truck prior to his death, and they had remained in the pickup ever since.

Thomas also reportedly said he had picked up the passenger, Davila, in Mesquite and was giving him a ride to Colorado to work.

The officer then confronted Thomas on the prescription bottle with Davila’s name on it recovered from the first safe, which had to have been placed inside of the safe during the drive from Mesquite, which also meant he had access to the safe.

All three occupants were arrested and transported to Purgatory Correctional Facility facing multiple charges.

Thomas and Davila each face two second-degree felony possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance charges, while Thomas faces two additional misdemeanor charges for possession of a controlled substance and paraphernalia.

The backseat passenger, Johann, faces three misdemeanor charges which are two counts of possession of a controlled substance and one paraphernalia charge. She was released on her own recognizance, while Thomas and Davila are being held without bail.

This report is based on statements from court records, 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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