Police seek alleged drug money from woman suspected in fatal hit-and-run

Police seek alleged drug money from woman suspected in fatal hit-and-run

(Utah DMV)


Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

MIDVALE — Police want to seize more than $2,800 in alleged drug money from a woman suspected in a fatal hit-and-run crash last month.

Police believe Mika Lindquist, 31, hit and killed Ronald Charles Renfro, 56, while he was crossing 7200 South at 50 West on Sept. 24. The vehicle involved in the crash, an Eclipse, was reported stolen from Enterprise Rental Car in Salt Lake City on Sept. 11.

Unified police learned that Lindquist was the person registered as the car renter and soon named her as a suspect in the fatal hit-and-run accident. Police later said they had been communicating with Lindquist, but no criminal charges have been filed against her.

Now, the state is seeking $2,889 in alleged drug money found in Lindquist's vehicle, according to a complaint for forfeiture filed in 3rd District Court on Tuesday.

On Sept. 3, eight days before Lindquist obtained a rental car, a car driven by Brian Hirsch was pulled over by Unified police officers at 8000 S. Main, according to court records. Lindquist was a passenger in that vehicle.

Drug paraphernalia was spotted in the vehicle and a drug-sniffing police K-9 was brought to the scene, according to the complaint. The search found "hidden in the engine compartment of the vehicle … a distributable amount of approximately 124.7 grams of field-tested positive methamphetamine" as well as "a distributable amount of approximately 1.9 grams of field-tested positive heroin."

Hirsch was carrying the money, according to court documents.


Accident or not, she made a decision to leave a man in the road to die and she should be punished. If not in this life, then the next one. She seems to have no remorse and I will have none for her.

–Natasha Villagrana, daughter of victim


"Accordingly, there is clear and convincing evidence to believe that the seized currency facilitated the illegal possession or distribution of a controlled substance, or represents proceeds of such illegal activity," the court records state.

Court records show Lindquist has been charged 10 times in various Utah courts since November, mainly for traffic violations, including failing to register her vehicle and speeding. She was charged with drug possession and failing to register her vehicle in March. She failed to appear for her preliminary hearing in that case on Sept. 10 and a warrant was issued for her arrest, according to court records.

She was also charged with shoplifting a week ago in Salt Lake City Justice Court, for an incident on Sept. 16.

Renfro's daughter, Natasha Villagrana, released a statement after police announced Lindquist was considered a suspect saying she is hoping for justice in the case.

"Accident or not, she made a decision to leave a man in the road to die and she should be punished. If not in this life, then the next one. She seems to have no remorse and I will have none for her," the daughter said.

Related Story

Related stories

Most recent Utah stories

Related topics

Utah
Pat Reavy

    STAY IN THE KNOW

    Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

    KSL Weather Forecast