A woman gets upset during a traffic stop, telling Deputies she "wasn't going to be searched."
- Travis Uresk
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
by Travis Uresk
5-27-25
| Uintah County | May 25th, 2025 |
Uintah County Deputies conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle with several non-working lights.
During the stop, Deputy Russell requested for a K9 Deputy to respond to the scene to perform a free-air sniff around the vehicle.
Deputy Oldham arrived, and he and his K-9 partner, Sarik, conducted a free-air sniff around the suspect's vehicle. Sarik indicated to the odor of illegal narcotics coming from inside the car on the driver's side door.
Deputy Russell took the driver aside to speak with him while Deputy Oldham escorted the female passenger, later identified as 37-year-old Ashley Howell, out of the vehicle. In speaking with the unknown male driver, Ashley became upset that the Deputies were searching them once they were out of the car.
It was explained to Ashley that because she was inside the vehicle at the time of the air sniff, she could be subject to a search due to the possibility that she was concealing any illegal items.
Ashley became very upset and told deputies that she would not be searched. She was informed that she was hindering the investigation at this point and that she was subject to being detained until the investigation was completed.
Because of Ashley’s erratic behavior along with her lack of cooperation, she was detained by being placed in handcuffs until the Deputies could conclude their investigation. Before Deputy Russell placed Ashley in handcuffs, he noticed a large bulge in her hoodie pocket.
While Ashley was being detained, she began to pull away, trying to break free of the deputy's grip. She was escorted to the front of a patrol vehicle to be Terry Frisked for weapons.
Ashley was asked if she would feel more comfortable if she removed the items herself. She stated, “You know what, go ahead and check my pockets.”
When the deputy would move his hand to the front right of Ashley's waist, she would turn to the left and push herself into the vehicle in an attempt to keep him from searching her hoodie and again on the left side of her waist.
When Deputy Russell began to search her hoodie pocket and reached to remove the item, Ashley again turned away, saying, "I don't have anything in there."
The deputy removed the item, which was a large cloth-like bag with several items inside. The item was put on the hood of the patrol vehicle, and Ashley was placed in the back seat.
Deputy Russell started to look through the bag and located a white cellophane baggie that had a large amount of what I believed to be black heroin, two silver Camel snuss containers, and three pen sleeves.
In the first Camel container, there were eight pre-cut and folded pieces of tin foil. In the second Camel container was a small- personal use amount of what was believed to be heroin wrapped in cellophane and a folded piece of foil with burnt residue. Deputy Russell noticed that the pen sleeves had a residue inside, and been used to consume illegal narcotics.
Ashley had ready-to-use foil pieces (8) and an amount of 25.9 g, which she had separated from her personal use and intended to sell to support her habit. She had the intent, and that means, to supply other individuals with heroin.
Because of Deputy Russell, Deputy Oldham, and his partner K9 Sarik and their findings, Ashley was arrested and taken to Uintah County Jail for Possession of a controlled substance, Possession of paraphernalia, Obstruction of justice in a criminal investigation, and Possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute.
Deputy Russell believes that, given Ashley now lives in Colorado, she is a flight risk and a danger to others. Therefore, he requested that she be held without bail.
Judge Lamb set bail for Ashley Howell in the amount of $2,500.00.
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