DAVIS COUNTY, Utah – A child was given into the custody of the Utah Division of Child and Family Services Tuesday after an officer making a traffic stop observed a child who was pale, shaking and covered in dirt with blood around her nose and mouth in the back seat—and both of the adults in the vehicle now face numerous charges.
According to a statement of probable cause, an officer made a traffic stop on a vehicle on Highway 89 near 200 South in North Salt Lake Tuesday.
The vehicle was initially stopped because the officer could not view the details of the temporary permit on display where the license plate should have been, and the driver initially told the officer he did not have any form of ID but gave him a name and date of birth but no Social Security number.
The officer stated as he spoke with the driver he observed several signs of drug use in his actions, and an adult woman in the back seat also displayed signs of drug use during the exchange.
Next to the woman, the officer observed a female child who was, “lying on her side in a booster seat, was pale, shaking, covered in dirt, and had blood around her nose and mouth.”
In the PC statement, the officer explains, “I almost called an ambulance at that time as I believed the child to be neglected, possibly abused.”
After performing a field sobriety test, the driver was arrested on suspicion of DUI. The driver then told the officer the name he had given earlier was his father-in-law’s name. When the man gave his actual name, a search returned numerous warrants for his arrest and revealed he had a suspended driver’s license. The female passenger was also found to have warrants out for her arrest.
Police searched the vehicle, and a cigar container in the passenger’s purse was found to contain methamphetamine. Police also located a driver’s license and two blank checks inside the purse, and when contacted the owners of the items said they didn’t know either suspect and that the ID and checks had been stolen.
Personnel from the Utah Division of Child and Family Services responded, and after the investigation DCFS took custody of the child from the sheriff’s office.
The driver, Jayson Sisam, faces charges of DUI with a child in the vehicle as a class A misdemeanor, giving false information to police (information of an actual person) as a class A misdemeanor, driving on a suspended license as a Class C misdemeanor, and child endangerment as a third-degree felony. He also faces an infraction for not having a license plate visible on the vehicle from 100 feet away.
The female passenger, Tenesha Cole Simmons, faces charges of possession of a controlled substance as a third-degree felony, possession of drug paraphernalia as a class B misdemeanor, child endangerment as a third-degree felony, unlawful possession of another’s ID as a class A misdemeanor, and possession of stolen property as a class B misdemeanor.
Both individuals were booked into the Davis County Jail. It was not clear what, if any, relationship exists between the child and the two adults.
