Police: Couple driving stolen car admitted to swallowing heroin, meth
An Oklahoma City man and his fiancée are facing felony charges for driving a stolen car and hiding illegal drugs following a traffic stop in Las Vegas.
Phillip A. Brotherton, 37, and Ashley D. Brown, 27, both of Oklahoma, were charged following a traffic stop on Jan. 13.
A deputy with the San Miguel County Sheriff’s Office initiated a felony traffic stop around 2:40 p.m. after the deputy received an alert about a stolen car that had been captured on camera by an automated license plate reader on Mills Avenue.
Automated license plate readers are cameras that can be mounted on things like streetlight poles. The cameras capture images of license plate numbers, often checking them against a database of vehicles that have been reported stolen.
The sheriff’s deputy located the white GMC van with Arizona plates near the 1800 block of New Mexico Avenue in Las Vegas. Though the vehicle had Arizona plates, it had been reported stolen in Shreveport, Louisiana, according to a probable cause statement filed in San Miguel Magistrate Court.
The deputy pulled over the van driven by Brotherton in the 300 block of Santa Fe Street. With assistance from the Las Vegas Police Department, Brotherton and his passenger, Brown, were detained for questioning.
Both denied knowing that the van had been reported stolen, according to the probable cause statement.
While detained, Brotherton admitted to an officer that he’d swallowed a balloon filled with heroin or methamphetamine, and that Brown — who he identified as his fiancée — had also swallowed narcotics, according to the probable cause statement. While being interviewed by officers, Brown admitted she’d swallowed Heroin.
Brotherton and Brown were taken to Alta Vista Regional Hospital for emergency medical treatment. After being cleared by medical staff, Brown was issued a summons and ordered to appear in San Miguel Magistrate Court Feb. 15 for a first appearance hearing. She is charged with one felony count of tampering with evidence.
Brotherton was booked into the San Miguel County Detention Center Jan. 18, charged with receiving or transferring a stolen vehicle, and tampering with evidence, both felonies. He appeared in Magistrate Court Friday where Judge Christian Montaño set bond for Brotherton at $5,000, cash only.
Brotherton remained in custody at SMCDC as of this writing and is scheduled to appear in Magistrate Court Feb. 3 for a preliminary hearing.
