Posted by Travis Uresk | May 24th, 2023 | Drugs |
By Travis Uresk
5/24/23
Ballard, Ut.-On 5/17/23, at around 9:30 pm, Deputy Embleton was sitting stationary, running radar in the area of 2500 East Hwy 40 in Ballard due to receiving a report of a gray minivan driving recklessly and possibly heading in the Deputies direction.
The Deputy saw several headlights traveling westbound, and his radar was set to indicate various speeds of multiple vehicles. One vehicle was traveling at 66 mph in a 60 mph zone, and another at an increasing speed of 84 mph.
This vehicle was passing another vehicle ahead of it in a no-passing zone.
The Deputy activated his overhead lights and siren and pulled onto the highway to catch up to the vehicle to conduct a traffic stop, but the vehicle failed to comply.
The vehicle was still traveling westbound, swerving between the turning and eastbound lanes. While traveling West in the eastbound lane, the vehicle swerved into the path of three eastbound vehicles, causing each vehicle to run off the road to avoid a head-on collision.
Next, the vehicle ran partially off the road on the South side of Hwy 40, then swerved back onto the road, where it over-corrected and slid sideways on Hwy 40. The vehicle came to an abrupt stop sideways in the eastbound lane at 1697 East Hwy 40.
As the Deputy exited his patrol vehicle, he heard the vehicle revving up and the driver attempting to put the vehicle into gear to flee. The Deputy drew his sidearm and ordered the driver to exit the vehicle with his hands up.
The driver did not immediately exit, so Deputy Embleton opened the driver's side door and ordered the driver to exit with his hands up. The driver got out with his hands raised and turned around to face the vehicle like he was ordered to do.
Deputy Embleton placed the driver in handcuffs with no further incident. A pat down of the driver was conducted, and the driver didn't have anything on him. The driver was escorted and secured into Deputy Embleton's patrol vehicle.
The driver was identified as 25-year-old Ryder Leo Schoonmaker, out of Kingston, Idaho. A records check was completed, which showed no active warrants and no prior convictions for DUI. A vehicle records check showed it was registered not to Ryder but to an individual out of Colorado. It was later learned that Ryder purchased the vehicle but hadn't got new license plates or registered it in his name.
Deputy Embleton searched the vehicle and found several items of drug paraphernalia in plain sight. There was a pipe with burnt residue with a strong odor of marijuana and a large unsheathed knife on the floor in front of the driver's seat.
Deputy D. Nelson arrived on scene and completed a visual search of the vehicle to check for any additional weapons or drugs. Deputy Nelson found a rifle case within arms reach behind the driver's seat and what appeared to be several blunt ends on the floor next to the driver's seat.
Due to the vehicle being involved in an evading, an impound was requested, and an inventory of the vehicle was completed by Deputy Nelson and Sergeant B. Watkins, who had arrived on scene to assist. During this inventory, several items of drug paraphernalia and containers containing suspected marijuana were located, along with an unknown yellow substance (suspected of being an altered pill) in a baggy with a pill splitter and a pipe with burnt yellow residue.
Ryder was transported to the Uintah County Jail, where Deputy Embleton performed SFSTs in the jail's sally port. Ryder did indicate that he'd had previous surgery in his left eye and that it commonly bounced even when he wasn't drunk. Deputy Embleton advised Ryder that would be considered when determining the outcome of all the tests.
After completing the SFSTs, Deputy Embleton determined that Ryder was under the influence of a controlled substance to the degree that he could not have safely operated a motor vehicle. Deputy Embleton advised him that he would additionally be receiving the charge of DUI.
Ryder was taken into the Uintah County Jail, where he was read the admonitions in the DUI Report Form. Ryder consented to a blood draw completed by on-duty medical staff.
