UHP: Nephi traffic stop for suspected window tint violation allegedly turns up drugs, stolen vehicle, illegal financial cards

Utah Highway Patrol vehicle. Photo: Gephardt Daily/Nancy Van Valkenburg

NEPHI, Utah, Nov. 7, 2023 (Gephardt Daily) — A male driver and female passenger were arrested Monday after a Utah Highway Patrol officer stopped them for a suspected window-tint violation.

The car was stopped Monday morning on Interstate 70 near mile marker 52, near Nephi.

A records check showed the vehicle and its license plate were listed as stolen, says an affidavit filed by a UHP officer.

After the odor of narcotics was detected coming from the car, a search turned up marijuana and paraphernalia, according to arrest documents filed for driver Dustin Wilhelm Dunham, 37, and passenger Justice Nichole Vargas, 27. The paraphernalia consisted of glass pipes used to smoke marijuana and meth, the affidavits say.

Also found were “five financial cards belonging to others in the vehicle, as well as a list of many more credit card numbers, names associated with the cards, addresses, and security codes.

“The driver and passenger were arrested and booked into the Sevier County Jail.”

Dunham and Vargas were each arrested for investigation of:

  • Receiving or transferring of stolen vehicle, a second-degree felony
  • Five counts of unlawful acquire/possess/transfer of financial card, a third-degree felony
  • Theft/receiving property with value less than $500, a class B misdemeanor
  • Possession of controlled substance marijuana/spice, a class B misdemeanor
  • Use or possession of drug paraphernalia, a class B misdemeanor

Dunham was held for investigation of addition charges:

  • Intentional communication/false info to public officer, a class A misdemeanor
  • Using plates registered to another vehicle, a class C misdemeanor
  • Window tint violation, an infraction

Both arrestees were ordered held without bail.

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