Ion scan drug detection process questioned in Layton Subway arrest
Tanis Ukena, second from left, assembles a sandwich for a customer at the 1142 Route 193 Subway location in Layton Tuesday Oct. 18, 2016. A portion of the store's sales Tuesday will go towards a mission fund for Ukena.
This diagram shows an ion scanner for detection of illegal narcotics.
Cars wait in the drive thru line Tuesday Oct. 18, 2016, at the 1142 Route 193 Subway location in Layton. A portion of the store's sales Tuesday are going toward a mission fund for employee Tanis Ukena.
LAYTON — Trace drug detection technology used by Layton police is under fire in the case of a Subway restaurant worker who was arrested on suspicion of spiking an officer’s drink with illegal narcotics.
Investigators ran samples of the sickened officer’s lemonade through an ion mobility spectrometry machine, which looks for microscopic particles of drugs such as methaphetamine, marijuana, cocaine and heroin. Those samples tested positive for meth and marijuana, results that helped officers build probable cause to arrest Tanis Ukena, 18, in the Aug. 8 incident.
The state crime lab later ran more extensive tests on the suspect lemonade, determining no narcotics were present. As a result, police closed the case in October and Ukena never was charged.
MORE: See how the police investigation unfolded
Randall Richards, the Ukena family’s attorney, criticized the reliance police placed on results from the IonScan 400B machine, a desktop device that costs $35,000 to $50,000. According to product literature from the manufacturer, the IonScan is able to detect a range of illegal narcotics during a single analysis, with results produced in minutes.
“The IonScan is like the other flash tests that they do; these on-site tests are marginally reliable,” Richards said in an interview. “There are a lot of false positives, and the IonScan is particularly notorious.”
Story continues below photo.
Photo supplied/National Institute of Justice
An IonScan 400B drug trace detection machine. A device like this was used to test a Layton police officer’s lemonade for illegal narcotics. The tests were positive but later could not be confirmed by the state crime lab. Tanis Ukena, 18, was arrested Aug. 8, 2016, but not charged after the crime lab results were announced in October.
Methamphetamine and marijuana readings are among the most common false positives, “which ironically are the two which showed on this,” Richards said.
Layton Police Department spokesman Lt. Travis Lyman declined to comment on the tests or the IonScan machine. Citing legal concerns, the agency has said little about the case since the state crime lab results were announced. Richards has said the family is considering a lawsuit against the city over Ukena’s arrest.
RELATED: Layton family considers lawsuit after son absolved over drugging accusation
Assistant City Attorney Steven Garside said the IonScan and another process, a Marquis test, are commonly used in the field.
“They are presumptive tests to help establish probable cause,” he said. “They’re tools.”
The Marquis is a quick-check kit that allows police to test for drug traces with a solution that generates telltale color changes if illegal narcotics are present. The lemonade also showed positive for drugs in this test, and a repeat IonScan test the following day generated a positive reading as well.
In supplemental investigative reports, four Layton officers who participated in the trace tests on the lemonade samples detailed their actions of preparing the machine, running verification tests to confirm lack of prior contamination, and preparing the lemonade samples for insertion into the machine.
Ion scanning has been around for about 20 years, and a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration report said trace detection is most commonly use to screen people, packages and vehicles.
The National Institute of Justice touts ion mobility spectrometry in its Guide for the Selection of Drug Detectors for Law Enforcement Applications.
“A number of features of IMS make it attractive for the detection of illicit drugs,” the guide said. “The technique has probably been more widely developed than any other trace technology for drug detection.”
The machines can be operated by a person with only a few hours of training, the guide added.
The NIJ counsels that trace testing should be used as a primary screening technique, with any detection to be followed up by confirmation with other methods.
A separate NIJ study of correctional facilities’ screening programs showed false alarms for marijuana tests ranged from 2 to 18 percent with ion scans. It said desktop ion scanning units often have high false alarm rates due to their sensitivity settings.
“It can be seen that, in general, adjusting a system to provide higher detection sensitivity will result in an increase in false alarm rate,” the report said. “Unfortunately, these sensitive trace detectors have shown high false positives in high clutter environments from … poor sampling techniques.”
That study had no data on police agencies’ use of ion scans.
A National Institute of Standards and Technology review of ion scanners said, “As with any presumptive test, the uncertainties lie in the potential for false positives.”
Lauren Phillips, a spokeswoman for the IonScan’s manufacturer, Smiths Detection, declined to comment.
Story continues below photo.
SARAH WELLIVER/Standard-Examiner
Randall Richards, right, attorney for Tanis Ukena, speaks during a press conference held at his offices in Clearfield Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2016. A press release by the Layton police stated they would not be filing charges against Ukena, who was booked in August on one count of surreptitious administering of a poisonous substance, a second-degree felony. The release said that crime lab personnel were unable to confirm that contaminates were “in the officer’s drink.” Behind Randall are Ukena’s parents Landy, left, and Heather, center.
The Ukenas’ attorney also questioned police’s interpretation of other factors related to the implications that the drink was spiked.
Richards said it would have taken 20 doses of meth, at a street cost of $500, in the 21-ounce serving of lemonade to have had an extreme effect of the officer, who reported taking three sips.
Debilitating effects from a few sips also would not have occurred rapidly, Richards, a longtime criminal defense attorney, contended.
“Unfortunately I’ve represented too many meth addicts, and it takes 5 to 15 minutes until they get their high,” Richards said. He added that he knows of “no drug that is absorbed and manifests symptoms so quickly.”
He said drug recognition experts “would have said the IonScan result doesn’t match what the officer is saying. Given all the other facts, I have a real problem with them going forward and deciding to arrest him (Ukena).”
The affected officer and investigators who spoke to and observed him described his symptoms as consistent with narcotic intoxication. He reported confusion, dizziness, loss of feeling, sensations of tingling and warmth and loss of muscle control.
Blood and urine tests showed no drugs in the officer’s system. Ukena also tested negative for drugs and no drugs were found in Ukena’s car or in the Subway restaurant.
You can reach reporter Mark Shenefelt at mshenefelt@standard.net or 801 625-4224. Follow him on Twitter at @mshenefelt and like him on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SEmarkshenefelt.