The Heber City Police announced Saturday morning that while executing a search warrant, officers found a suspected drug lab. The search led to four arrests, including one for child pornography.
The Wasatch Back Major Crimes Task Force of the Heber City Police and Wasatch County Sheriff followed up on a tip Friday night at a residence on 300 North in Heber and discovered what Heber City Police called a “clandestine lab.”
Heber City Police Sergeant Tammy Thacker told KPCW the residence was known to the department as possibly being linked to drugs prior to the execution of the search warrant. The Salt Lake DEA Office was also called in to help decontaminate the area.
Thacker said the lab is believed to have been for methamphetamines and added that meth-related incidents are an uncommon occurrence in Heber.
“It’s not really a common thing right now because it’s hard to get the chemicals and stuff to manufacture the methamphetamine, so it’s not something that’s normal,” Thacker said.
Charles Dominick Bonsavage was taken into custody and booked into the Wasatch County Jail on suspicion of charges related to the lab.
A second individual at the residence, identified as Izzak Anthony Martinez, was found to be in possession of child pornography and was arrested for suspicion of sexual exploitation of a minor.
Thacker said Martinez was not previously known to police and the department did not receive any information about child pornography before searching the residence.
“This was somebody completely new, not on our radar,” said Thacker. “He was just in the residence at the time of the search warrant and during the course of the investigation, we found that there was child pornography. He had possession of child pornography and was arrested.”
Two additional individuals were also arrested after their vehicle pulled up to the residence during the investigation. The driver, Kandis Kathleen Hushaw, was arrested for suspicion of DUI and other drug and weapon charges. A passenger, Dustin Joseph Christensen, was also arrested for suspicion of not registering as a sex offender.
Thacker said spotting drug labs can be hard, but suspicious activity like a large number of deliveries at a particular location, unusual equipment, or an unusual amount of people coming and going can all be red flags.
