Monday, March 14, 2011
Colorado Runaway Apprehended In Lawrenceburg
A Colorado teenager reported to be a runaway was apprehended during a traffic stop in Lawrenceburg overnight Friday.
It was shortly before midnight when a Lawrenceburg Police Officer working traffic in the vicinity of the Public Library on East Gaines Street clocked a silver, 1990 Mercedes 300 traveling 48 miles per hour in a 30 mph zone.
Once he made the stop, the officer reports neither of the two vehicle occupants was able to provide a valid driver license. The driver, Joshua Jon Alonzo Fasano, 20, of Sebring Drive, Scottsboro, Alabama, reported he and the passenger, a seventeen-year-old male from Colorado Springs, had just graduated together and were en route to his mother’s home in Chattanooga. He told the officer he had lost his wallet, which contained his driver license.
Working through Central Dispatch the officer was able to obtain a positive identification on the teen. Dispatchers also discovered, however, that he had been listed as a runaway.
Suspecting that both might have been under the influence of some type of intoxicant, the officer summoned a K-9 unit to the scene.
Once the dog alerted on the vehicle, the officer reports the teen threw a black bag out the window that contained two large plastic bags of marijuana. Fasano claimed ownership, saying he had purchased the contraband in Colorado and transported to Tennessee.
The reporting officer indicates that the marijuana was seized into evidence along with other contraband. The car was also seized along with $447 in cash believed to be the proceeds of illegal drug sales.
As a result of the incident Fasano was taken into custody on charges of possession of schedule VI narcotics (marijuana) for the purpose of resale and possession of drug paraphernalia.
He was booked through the Lawrence County Detention Center without incident. He has been scheduled an initial general sessions court date of April 1, 2011.
Department of Children’s Services caseworkers had the teen housed at the juvenile facility at the Maury County Detention Center. They indicated he would remain there until he could be retrieved by Colorado law enforcement officials.
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