Tuesday, April 11, 2017
Traffic stops yield several drug charges
Lawrenceburg Now
Several individuals are facing drug charges in connection with traffic stops made recently by local law enforcement officers.
Officers with the Lawrenceburg Police Department conducted a stop on North Locust Avenue Thursday when they noticed the driver was not properly maintaining a lane of travel. They found that three persons inside the vehicle had outstanding warrants.
Officers spoke with driver Matthew Dewayne Bumpas, 30, of 339 Simms Street, and one of them noticed that he had something inside of his mouth. He told them it was nothing and refused to open his mouth, struggling with officers. Officers indicate that he spat the item into the rear driver side window.
Once he had been taken to the ground and secured they retrieved the item and discovered that a was a clear plastic bag containing around one gram of marijuana, and two clear bags, one of which contained a clear crystal substance believed to be methamphetamine.
Bumpas was arrested on the outstanding warrant along with additional charges of possession of Schedule II narcotics, possession of Schedule VI narcotics, and failure to maintain a lane of travel.
On Saturday officers made a traffic stop on Evergreen Street when they found that driver Thomas Lee Miller, Sr., age 55, of 409 Ninth Street, was swerving across the roadway. They report that there was an odor of marijuana emanating from the vehicle. They report finding a plastic bag inside the car that contained around 3.5 grams of marijuana along with a glass pipe.
Miller was issued citations, charging him with simple possession of marijuana and failure to maintain a lane of travel. His initial General Sessions court date was scheduled for June 2, 2017.
Officers made a third stop on Sunday after noticing that a driver had run a stop sign on West Gaines Street. When the driver stepped out to speak with one officer, a second officer reports noticing that passenger Tiffany Leann Byrd had removed a bag of what appeared to be marijuana from her purse and was attempting to conceal it in her pants. Byrd, a twenty-six year old resident of 50 Swimming Hole Road, was issued a citation charging her with simple possession of a Schedule VI narcotic. Her initial court appearance was set for May 5, 2017.
Deputies with the Lawrence County Sheriff's Department recently conducted a similar stop on New Powerhouse Road. They report stopping an SUV after the driver pulled out of a grassy field on private property.
Reports show that driver Samantha Nicole Johnson, age 38, of 1200 Rose Hill Road, Pulaski denied having any type of contraband inside the vehicle and refused to allow a search. A Tennessee Highway Patrol K9 unit responded to the scene and reports show that the K9 quickly indicated that there were drugs inside the car.
Deputies searched the vehicle and found used syringes hidden beneath the steering wheel panel. Passenger Ben Franklin Burgess, II, 18 of 1002 North Main Street in Saint Joseph was found to have on his person a small glass container that held residue of a green leafy substance he identified as marijuana.
Johnson was cited on one count of criminal trespassing and one count of possession of drug paraphernalia. Burgess was issued a citation for possession of a drug paraphernalia.
