According to the Summit County Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded to Kilby Road between Kimball Junction and Pinebrook just after 9pm last Sunday to assist with a medical incident.
Sheriff’s Lt. Andrew Wright said a 16-year-old girl began shaking uncontrollably after eating a THC gummy and was taken to a local hospital for medical care. The girl told deputies the gummy was given to her by a coworker, and she knew the gummy contained THC before eating it.
Wright said deputies followed up with the coworker, 25-year-old Park City man Juan Carlos Riqueno, and found an array of other drugs and a large amount of cash after securing a search warrant for his home in Prospector.
“Once they got into the home and did a thorough search of his living quarters, they found more than just THC gummies," said Wright. "They found quite a large spread of different drugs, including mushrooms, the THC edibles, cocaine, methamphetamine, sounds like some pills.”
Riqueno was arrested and booked into Summit County Jail on six charges of possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, one charge of distribution of a controlled substance to a minor, and one charge of possession of drug paraphernalia.
Wright said it has not been determined whether the gummy given to the girl contained anything other than THC. Deputies are still investigating where Riqueno got the gummies and the rest of the drugs.
Wright said it’s important for everyone to know what exactly they’re eating or drinking, especially if it is offered by someone they don’t know very well.
“Our advice as public safety officials and law enforcement would be, number one, know exactly what it is that you’re ingesting," he said. "Whether it’s a drink, whether it’s a food substance, if you’re smoking something, you need to make that very careful decision and probably ask questions. When in doubt, if you don’t know what it is, if you truly care about your safety, we would highly encourage people not to ingest anything that they don’t know what is being given to them.”
Medical marijuana is legal in Utah, but highly regulated. Wright said marijuana products not purchased at a licensed distributor may not be as safe.
