Copper thefts, fraud and heroin use in county

By PATSY STODDARD Editor

The Emery County Sheriff’s Office has been working on a number of different incidents including theft, fraud and heroin use.
The theft of large amounts of copper from Nielson Construction worksites has been a cause for concern. Det. Jerod Curtis said, “These large thefts have occurred in the last four months. They have been random acts. They have stolen more than $50,000 worth of cable containing copper. The thefts have been spread out over a period of time. We are investigating the incidents. Anyone with information about these thefts can contact me at the Emery County Sheriff’s Office at 381-2404 or Det. John Barnett. Nielson Construction is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the person or persons involved in these thefts.”
Emery County Sheriff Greg Funk warns about fraud and scams. People in the county are still be scammed by people who want the county residents to invest in fraudulent schemes and get rich quick scams. “You need to be on the alert for people who are trying to get your money. Don’t give it to them, if it sounds to good to be true then it is. We are really trying to educate our people about these dangers. We are planning a workshop and training with the public and we will have representatives from the Attorney General’s office speak here in the county about scams and fraud.”
Emery County Sheriff’s Office has been dealing with a lot of heroin lately. Det. Garrett Conover said, “Heroin is bad right now with high school and college age kids. They inject the heroin into their veins or in some cases they smoke it. All of the heroin comes out of Mexico with the Mexican drug cartel, it’s taken to Salt Lake City and distributed from there. It comes into Carbon County where they have a huge problem. They are having two overdose cases every month over there. The heroin is either purchased by our county people in Price or it’s being sold over here too. The resurgence of heroin in the county is disturbing, there hadn’t been any heroin here for 15 years and now it’s back. Parents you need to watch for changes in your children. Watch for changes in attitude. Watch if they are used to doing things with the family and suddenly they don’t want to be around the family. You can also watch for needle marks in their arms and elsewhere and for bruising. When the needle hits the vein it can cause bruising around the vein. If they are out of money and always wanting money, then they might have a drug problem. This stuff is expensive, it’s $25-35 for a balloon. Which is about the size of a pencil lead. They melt it down and inject it. With heroin you never know what you are getting. It’s always cut with something else or in some cases maybe not and you’ll get a big dose. Any amount of heroin can kill you. It is a narcotic and opiate derivative and it can cause you to go into cardiac arrest. It doesn’t matter how old you are. You can have a heart attack. You never know, the first time you do heroin it can kill you. You need to know heroin is a problem and it can kill you. No one thinks it’s out there, but it is and you need to watch out for it. You get a high out of it, the same kind of high as in prescription drugs. People move on to heroin, because it’s cheaper than the prescription drugs and easier to find. It affects everyone differently. If you have a friend or a family member using heroin then get them some help. It’s better to have someone go to jail that gives them a chance to straighten out and get their life back on track, you can’t do that if you’re dead,” said Det. Conover.