Officers with the Picayune Police Department focused their efforts on removing narcotics from the city during two recent incidents involving three suspects.
Officers responded to a quick stop on Highway 43 North at 4:52 p.m. June 3, after receiving calls of a suspicious vehicle parked outside the business for more than two hours, Picayune Assistant Chief Jeremy Magri said.
When officers arrived, they observed two males allegedly searching through the vehicle in an attempt to locate something. Officers also noticed several items including clothes and paper scattered on the ground around the car, Magri said.
As officers approached, the suspects, identified as Jerome Theriot, Jr., 29, of 28 Skipper Road, and Joshua Demster, 33, of 50036 LaPolo Farm East Boulevard, Folsom, La., told officers they were about to wash some clothes, Magri said.
While conducting a search of Theriot’s person, an officer felt a sharp object in Theriot’s back left pocket. When it was removed, officers identified it as the bottom of an aluminum can with burnt residue, paraphernalia commonly used to melt narcotics for inhalation or injection, Magri said.
As Theriot was taken into custody, Demster told officers he was unaware of where he was or how he had gotten there, Magri said.
When they approached the vehicle, officers saw used and unused syringes on the passenger seat of the car. They also observed what appeared to be fresh marks on Demster’s arm consistent with recent injections, Magri said.
During a search of the vehicle, officers located a white pill bottle in a box on the rear seat. Inside, they found multiple small bags containing 88 pills believed to be ecstasy and a bag containing a brown powered substance believed to be heroin, Magri said.
Both men were arrested for trafficking a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance and possession of paraphernalia, Magri said.
In a separate incident on June 8, a Picayune Police officer conducted a traffic stop at Moody Street near 8th Avenue at 9:02 p.m. for no tag, running a stop sign, careless driving and no turn signal, Magri said.
As the officer approached the vehicle, the odor of an intoxicating beverage was detected from the driver’s breath.
The officer asked the driver, identified as Tysha Bolden, 46, of 2204 Cousin Street, to exit the vehicle, Magri said.
Bolden submitted to several field sobriety tests and as a result, was taken into custody for DUI first, no tag, running a stop sign, careless driving, no turn signal and no insurance.
The officer also searched the vehicle and located a white cup containing a brown intoxicating beverage in the front cup holder and a paper towel containing 35 pills in the center console, Magri said.
The pills were later identified as Lortab, a schedule II felony narcotic, he said.
Bolden was additionally charged with possession of open beer and felony possession of a controlled substance, Magri said.
Bolden was taken to Highland Community Hospital for blood tests before being transported to the Picayune Criminal Justice Center.