EAGLE MOUNTAIN, Utah (ABC4) – A 19-year-old woman has been arrested after police say she attempted to hide cocaine in her car during a traffic stop with her two-year-old daughter in the back seat.
According to a news release, on March 2, a detective with the Utah County Sheriff’s stopped a car in Eagle Mountain after the car was driving “erratically.”
The detective also reported that the woman driving the car, identified as Gabriella Ann McKenzie, 19, of Eagle Mountain, was on a video call while driving. A young child was also seen “unrestrained” in the back seat, according to a news release from the Utah County Sheriff’s Office.
When the detective went to talk to McKenzie, he smelled marijuana inside the car, according to the Utah County Sheriff’s Office
A press release said that another deputy arrived and asked McKenzie to get her children, a 2-year-old and an 8-month-old out of the back seat. As McKenzie went to get her children out of the back seat, a deputy saw her take something out of a box in the car and put it in her waistband.
Fearing that it might be a weapon, the deputy placed her in handcuffs and saw a brown bag in the woman’s waistband. According to a press release, the brown bag contained a white powder that was later determined to be cocaine.
Officials said that a bottle of liquor, drug paraphernalia, and a “small amount” of marijuana was also found in the car. McKenzie was arrested for endangerment of a child, possession of cocaine, illegal possession of alcohol, evidence tampering, illegal possession of tobacco, use of a handheld device while driving, driving with a suspended driver’s license, and failure to stay in one lane.
