A 37-year-old man was charged with possessing drug paraphernalia on the night of Oct. 30 after a detective from the Fort Pierce Police Department allegedly discovered a glass pipe and a small plastic bag in his vehicle during a routine traffic stop. The powder residue found inside the plastic bag was identified as cocaine during a field test according to the FPPD. The man is scheduled to appear in court on Dec. 3.
A detective assigned to the FPPD’s Crime Suppression Unit says that he conducted the traffic stop at the intersection of North 25th Street and Avenue D at approximately 11:40 p.m. after observing the man’s car ignore a stop sign. The detective says that the vehicle had been seen earlier in the parking lot of a motel frequented by drug dealers, drug users and prostitutes. According to the detective, the man made several furtive gestures before pulling over.
When he approached the car, the detective says that he observed an open beer container in plain sight and noticed that the man had bloodshot and glassy eyes. The man was taken into custody without incident at the scene after allegedly giving the detective permission to search his vehicle. He is said to have told the detective that the bag containing the powder residue was not his and may have been blown into his car by the wind.
Criminal defense attorneys may seek to have drug charges dismissed when they are based on the results of field chemical tests. The drug-testing kits used by police officers are inexpensive and produce results quickly, but they have been known to identify benign substances as dangerous illegal narcotics. Attorneys may advise individuals who are pulled over by law enforcement to not consent to any searches of their vehicles or persons unless police officers can produce a search warrant.