ST. GEORGE — For the second time in two days, the Utah Highway Patrol has arrested a person for allegedly smuggling people believed to be in the country illegally.
Jose Wualber Lopez Hernandez, 24, was booked into the Beaver County Jail early Wednesday for investigation of human smuggling, forgery, not having a valid license and following another vehicle too closely.
The investigation began Tuesday, just before 11 p.m., when a Utah Highway Patrol trooper was contacted by a detective in California who stated “that a individual had reported that his girlfriend had possibly been taken. He told me that he didn’t know by who or when,” a police booking affidavit states. The woman’s phone was pinging in Utah, the affidavit states.
The trooper spotted a Toyota Sienna on northbound I-15 near Beaver that was believed to be connected to the incident, the affidavit states. After following the vehicle and watching the driver perform an improper lane change, the Toyota was pulled over, the trooper states in the affidavit. The trooper then asked the driver, Hernandez, for his license.
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Written by PAT REAVY, KSL.com.
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