A West Valley City man is charged with felony drug possession charges following a traffic stop on Interstate 80 in October.
Thang Ngoc Nguyen, 48, is charged with three counts of third-degree felony possession or use of a controlled substance and misdemeanor counts of driving with a measurable controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.
A Utah Highway Patrol trooper found Nguyen’s car stopped near mile marker 24 on I-80 eastbound at 9:45 p.m. on Oct. 30, according to a probable cause statement. The trooper said in the statement that he had not seen the vehicle there an hour earlier and stopped to conduct a welfare check.
There were two men inside the car who appeared to be sleeping and the trooper knocked on the driver-side window of the car until the men woke up, the statement said. After the driver, later identified as Nguyen, rolled down his window, the trooper noted a small baggie that contained a white, rock-like substance and saw Nguyen had white powder on his legs.
The trooper identified the substance as potentially being crack cocaine and also found a glass pipe that appeared to have been used to smoke drugs, the statement said.
After confiscating the baggie and removing Nguyen from the car, the trooper searched his pockets and found a large bag with several smaller baggies containing what the trooper deemed to be heroin and meth, according to the probable cause statement.
The passenger in the car appeared to be under the influence of drugs but the trooper did not locate any drugs on him, the statement said. Nguyen was arrested and read his rights before he spoke with the trooper.
In his conversation with police, Nguyen admitted to smoking a “speedball,” a combination of heroin and crack cocaine, the previous night, the probable cause statement said. Nguyen was transported to the Tooele County Detention Center and booked, where he submitted to a blood draw.
Nguyen is scheduled to make his initial appearance in 3rd District Court on Nov. 28 at 10:28 a.m. before Judge Robert Adkins.