A Yucca Valley man was arrested early Thursday morning after a sharp-eyed CHP officer noticed him sitting in a car on the highway with the door open in Morongo Valley. According to a Sheriff’s report, the California Highway Patrol was driving westbound on Highway 62 near Highland Road in Morongo Valley about 2:45 a.m. when he saw a white Scion TC stopped at the intersection. The passenger door was open, and the officer stopped to check on the car’s occupants. Joel Godfrey, 27, was sitting in the passenger seat, and a records check found that he had two active warrants for his arrest: for carrying a loaded firearm and for possession of a controlled substance. The CHP officer placed Godfrey in his patrol car and called the Sheriff’s Department for assistance. When a deputy arrived and moved Godfrey into the Sheriff’s patrol car, the CHP officer discovered drug paraphernalia in the back seat of his patrol car. Joel Godfrey was arrested for his warrants and for investigation of possession of drug paraphernalia, booked at the Morongo Basin Jail, and is being held on $50,000 bail.
