Officers with the Poplarville Police Department made several drug-related arrests in the past two months, netting four suspects.
The first incident occurred June 1 at 11:40 p.m. when officers observed a vehicle traveling on Highway 11 near Michigan Street with no tag lights, Poplarville Police Chief Butch Raby said.
Officers became suspicious and conducted a traffic stop when the vehicle turned into the empty parking lot at White Funeral Home, Raby said.
The driver, identified as David S. Davis, Jr. 21, of 19 Sunny Hill Road, was asked to exit the vehicle. While officers conduced a safety pat down, they detected alcohol on his breath, Raby said.
Davis passed a breathalyzer test, but officers observed an open six-pack of beer on the seat in plain view as well as several open wine bottles, Raby said.
Officers conducted a search of the vehicle and located a pill bottle containing a green leafy substance believed to be marijuana and a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun on the back seat, Raby said.
Officers later found more of the green leafy substance believed to be marijuana and prescription pills in the glove box, Raby said.
Davis was arrested for possession of a schedule II controlled substance, improper equipment, open container and possession of less than one ounce of marijuana. The handgun was also seized, Raby said.
In a separate incident on June 15, officers were dispatched to Sarah’s Market on Highway 11 North after the store clerk notified a Pearl River Community College officer that a man was carrying a firearm in the store, Raby said.
Officers arrived shortly after midnight to find Thomas J. Cotton, 51, of 27 ½ Louisiana Street, Westwego, Louisiana, who was allegedly intoxicated, in the store. He was placed under arrest for public intoxication, Raby said.
The store clerk advised the officers that when Cotton entered the store he asked for narcotics. When she told him they didn’t sell that kind of thing, she noticed Cotton had a gun in his waistband, Raby said.
Due to his arrest for public intoxication, Cotton’s vehicle was inventoried and towed, leading to the discovery of a 9 mm handgun in the seat pocket, Raby said.
Officers later learned Cotton was a convicted of a crime in Louisiana and was listed on the national crime database as wanted for failure to register as a sex offender in Baton Rouge and Jefferson Parish, Louisiana.
Cotton was additionally charged with possession of a weapon by a convicted felon and a hold was placed on him by the state of Louisiana, Raby said.
The Chief said the arrest successfully removed an illegal weapon from the streets of Poplarville.
In a third incident, officers were called to Love’s Truck Stop at 12:30 a.m. on July 6 in reference to an unconscious male lying on the ground, Raby said.
Officers called for an ambulance when they found an unconscious man sweating profusely and lying near a vehicle. A woman was found in the passenger seat of the vehicle and it appeared the pair were traveling together, Raby said.
As officers spoke with the woman, they noticed a strong odor of marijuana and saw a clear bag containing a rock-like substance believed to be crystal methamphetamine in plain view on the car seat, Raby said.
Officers also observed a half-rolled cigar containing a green leafy substance believed to be marijuana in the vehicle. The male subject, identified as Mario J. Green, 36, of 1909 Choctaw Street, Hattiesburg, was transported to Forrest General Hospital, Raby said.
Meanwhile, the woman, identified as Tahaira A. Cuevas, 34, of 25 A Ross Gardner Road, McHenry, Mississippi, was arrested for possession of methamphetamine and misdemeanor possession of marijuana.
Further investigation revealed Cuevas was out on parole for drug convictions in Harrison County, Raby said, and the Mississippi Department of Corrections has since placed a hold on her.
Green was later arrested by the Hattiesburg Police Department on warrants for possession of methamphetamine and possession of marijuana, Raby said.