Morgan County Sheriff’s Office: Stolen truck recovered, suspect arrested

Morgan County Undersheriff Jon Horton and Morgan County Sheriff’s deputies were involved in the recovery of a black pickup truck that was stolen from Sterling and the arrest Whitney Roth, a suspect in the case, according to a news release.

Around 7:08 p.m. Tuesday, May, 17, Morgan County Sheriff’s Office deputies were advised that a pickup stolen from Sterling was headed westbound on Interstate 76 and spotted at milemarker 106.  The pickup in question was described as a black Chevy Silverado. Deputies then got set up on I-76 in or near Morgan County watching for the pickup to reach them.

Whitney Roth (Morgan County Sheriff’s Office/Courtesy photo)

“It was learned that the victim’s cell phone was in the pickup and that the location of the truck was able to be tracked using the cell phone,” the release stated.

Using this method, law enforcement learned that the pickup had stopped moving, and that location was given to the deputies. Undersheriff Horton then responded to the last known location of the black pickup truck.

Horton located the pickup stuck in the dirt in the median of I-76 around milemarker 97. He saw a semi-truck pulled over on the shoulder of the road and two people walking westbound along the yellow line of eastbound traffic.

In the median, Horton saw the black pickup that had been reported as stolen. He pulled up and told the two people walking to cross over to the shoulder of the interstate.

The two parties then crossed over on foot, with Undersheriff Horton blocking traffic with his vehicle with emergency lights on.

“The male party advised that the female party had a gun,” the news release stated.

At this point, Undersheriff Horton had the female move to the front of his patrol car and place the items in her hands on the hood of his car. He saw a set of brass knuckles in her hands as she was putting items down.

When Horton moved to handcuff the female suspect, “she started resisting and trying to get the items on the hood of the car,” the news release stated. “The female was taken to the ground and placed in cuffs.”

At this time, other units arrived to assist at the scene.

The woman, now in custody, was given first aid, and an ambulance was called to assist, according to the news release.

In addition to the brass knuckles Undersheriff Horton had spotted, the female suspect also was found to have a loaded 9-millimeter handgun.

After being treated and released from the hospital, the woman, later identified as Whitney Roth, was taken to the Morgan County Detention Center. She was held on the following charges: first-degree assault, aggravated motor vehicle theft, possession of a weapon by a previous offender, false reporting, possessing a dangerous or illegal weapon, unlawfully carrying a concealed weapon, resisting arrest, theft and driving while license suspended.

“The Morgan County Sheriff’s Office would like to thank the truck driver that stopped to help,” the news release stated, as well as offering gratitude to the Morgan County Ambulance Service and the Brush Police Department who “came to help our deputy.”

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