WASHINGTON CITY — A man and woman were arrested early Monday morning when police found a wide variety of drugs and drug paraphernalia in their car after they were reportedly loitering at a gas station for four hours with the woman’s two small children.
Just after midnight Monday, officers responded to the Chevron gas station located at 990 W. Buena Vista Blvd. in Washington where a witness reported a man was using drugs, according to a probable cause statement filed by the Washington City Police Department in support of the arrest.
The witness told police that a used needle was found in the gas station’s bathroom when the man exited after having been inside the restroom for an extended amount of time, the arresting officer wrote in a sworn statement.
After leaving the bathroom, the man exited the store and sat with a woman and two children in a car parked in the parking lot, the report stated. The witness told police that the man and woman had been loitering in and outside of the store for approximately four hours.
When officers arrived, one officer spoke with the male suspect — identified as Dustin J. Hafen, of New Castle — while another officer spoke with the woman, who was identified as Christina Hafen, of Hurricane, according to the statement.
“I asked him what he was doing at Chevron and he said he has been playing the quarter game,” the officer stated. “I advised him that the reporting party stated he has been at Chevron for four hours loitering. He said he didn’t think he was loitering.”
Dustin Hafen initially denied having used drugs but eventually admitted that he had used meth a few hours prior to the officers’ arrival.
“As I was talking to him I observed his pupils were dilated,” the officer wrote in the statement. “His pupils were almost covering all of the white of his eyes. I then looked at his arms and observed a fresh needle mark in his left arm.”
Christina Hafen was also showing signs of being under the influence of drugs, the report stated.
A narcotics police K-9 was deployed on the vehicle and alerted to the presence of drugs, according to the statement. During a search of the vehicle, officers located meth, heroin, hydrocodone pills, marijuana, used syringes, several pipes, multiple small baggies, a scale, three large hunting knives and a small purple TASER.
Dustin Hafen was arrested and transported to the Washington County Purgatory Correctional Facility. After a family member arrived to take custody of Christina Hafen’s children, she was also arrested and transported to the jail.
The Washington County Attorney’s Office filed an information in 5th District Court accusing Dustin Hafen of second-degree felony drug possession with the intent to distribute, two class A misdemeanor counts of possession of a controlled substance and two class B misdemeanor counts of possession of drugs and drug paraphernalia.
As this report is published, Dustin Hafen remains in police custody.
The Washington County Attorney’s Office filed an information in 5th District Court accusing Christina Hafen of class A misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance and class B misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia.
Christina Hafen was released from custody on $2,000 bail. A review hearing in her case is scheduled for Friday afternoon.
Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.
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