A Man Found Passed Out In His Truck In A Parking Lot In Vernal

By Travis Uresk

3/2/24

Vernal, Ut.- On February 27th, 2024, at around 2:45 pm, dispatch received a call of a suspicious incident at the church parking lot at 1500 West US-40. It was reported that a female was sleeping or passed out in the cab of a small green truck that was parked halfway on the sidewalk.

When Sgt Watt arrived, he first drove past the truck, where he saw the truck with two of its tires on the sidewalk. Sgt Watt pulled in behind the vehicle and noticed it was still running but couldn't see anyone inside the truck.

The officer walked up to the truck and saw a male lying across the front seat of the small truck. His feet and legs were under the steering wheel; his body was across the seat, turned in a way that his head was down in the small space between the seat and the passenger door.

Sgt Watt could see he was a male with long hair and a man-bun and could see that he was breathing. The officer knocked on the window to get the male's attention, and he slowly lifted his head. A large amount of drool came out of his mouth and dripped down his face, and he seemed confused.

The male was asked to open the passenger door, and as he did, a black tooter pipe rolled out onto the ground. A piece of tinfoil was also on the floorboard with burnt residue lines. There was also a large amount of drool on the floor between the seat and the door.

Sgt Watt had the male exit the truck and secured him in handcuffs due to the drug paraphernalia. The male was identified as 38-year-old Casey W. Hansen. Casey was searched, and nothing illegal was found on his person.

Once Casey was secured in the back of the patrol vehicle and was read his Miranda Rights, he agreed to speak with the officer. During the interview, Casey admitted he had smoked a blue Fentanyl pill, saying that he still might have half of the pill in a red pencil bag inside the truck.

When Sgt Watt went back to the truck to begin the search, he noticed that the truck was still in drive, and the only thing keeping it from moving forward was that one back wheel against the sidewalk. The vehicle was put in park and shut off. If the truck hadn't stopped on the curb, it would have rolled onto Highway 40, only 40 feet away.

During the search, the red pencil bag was found, which had more tinfoil pieces with burnt residue on them. A plastic bag was found under the rim of Casey's hat. Inside the plastic bag was a blue M30 pill (Fentanyl).

Casey was taken to the hospital for medical clearance. He was given the admonition on the DUI report Form to request a blood sample.

Casey was then transported to the Uintah County Jail, where a criminal history check was performed, and it showed he had two prior drug convictions and several other drug charges without dispositions.