By Travis Uresk
2/11/25
| Uintah County | February 8th, 2025 |
A UHP Trooper was stationary, watching traffic, when a vehicle traveling 58 mph in a 50 mph zone approached. The vehicle also had expired registration stickers from 11/24.
Trooper Major stopped the vehicle near milepost 157 and contacted the driver, who immediately handed him a Utah ID card and said she didn't have a driver's license.
The driver identified herself as 51-year-old Cassandra Sherman.
The trooper confirmed Sherman had no insurance on the vehicle, and she stated she knew she shouldn't be driving it, but it was an emergency. She said her 16-year-old son, who was in the front passenger seat, had been at a house where fighting was going on and didn't feel safe, so she drove knowing it was illegal so she could pick him up.
The trooper performed a records check on Sherman, which returned that her registration expired on 11/24, her vehicle showed no insurance, her driver's license was revoked for an alcohol offense, and she was actively on probation.
Trooper Major informed Sherman that her vehicle would be impounded because she did not have insurance, and he asked her 16-year-old son to exit the vehicle.
The trooper conducted an inventory of Sherman's vehicle, and several THC vape pens were located in the center console. A receipt from a marijuana dispensary in Colorado with a date and time approximately 30 minutes prior to the stop was also found. The trooper didn’t find the THC vape pen listed on the receipt in the vehicle.
Sherman was asked about the missing pen and stated she had given it to someone, eventually saying she gave it to her son to hold so she didn't get in trouble for having it. Sherman also said she had a current Utah medical marijuana card. Knowing that the Utah Cannabis Act prohibits purchasing or possession of marijuana purchased from out of state.
Trooper Major asked her son to come and talk with them and issued their Miranda Rights, but the son declined to speak to the trooper. Sherman informed him she understood her rights and agreed to talk.
Sherman stated she had gotten in trouble in the past for possession of marijuana outside of the Utah Cannabis Act, so she didn't want to get in trouble again for it. She gave it to her son and told him to hide it.
During their conversation, he produced the vape pen, with the battery attached, from his boot. Sherman stated she had purchased the THC vape pen in Dinosaur, Colorado, and then used it on the way back. She also stated she drove to Dinosaur, Colorado, with the purpose of purchasing marijuana.
Her son was not in danger and did not need to be picked up and traveled with her from their home in Vernal to Colorado.
The trooper ran her driver's license through a different system and realized it showed she was also required to have an ignition interlock device installed in her vehicle, which she did not.
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