A Utah Highway Patrol dispatcher assigned to Carbon County was arrested Sunday after police said a six-month investigation revealed that she and her husband were selling drugs.
The original target of the Carbon Metropolitan Drug Task Force was the husband, 56, not the 61-year-old dispatcher, unit commander and Price City police Lt. Kevin Drolc said. But after several months, investigators determined that the woman likely knew that her husband was buying and selling drugs.
The couple was arrested about 8 a.m. Sunday at their home, near 600 East and 600 South in Price, Drolc said. Inside, officers found small quantities of methamphetamines and marijuana and several firearms. The couple did not appear to be involved in meth production as no meth lab was found, Drolc said.
They were booked into the Carbon County Jail for investigation of possession of a controlled substance with the intent to distribute and possession of a controlled substance in a drug free zone, meaning that the alleged offense took place within 1,000 feet of a church, school, day care or other place where children are present. The couple lives near both a school and a day care, Drolc said.
The couple spent Sunday night in the Carbon County Jail but were released Monday after posting bail of $20,000, Carbon County Sheriff James Cordova said.
The dispatcher has been placed on administrative leave by highway patrol per department policy, UHP spokeswoman Tammy Palmer said. The Department of Public Safety will conduct its own administrative review and "take the appropriate action" but added that it could not discuss the situation further because that investigation is ongoing.
Criminal charges had not been filed against the couple Tuesday. Drolc said the task force is continuing its investigation.
E-mail: jdobner@desnews.com