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MARIJUANA FOUND AFTER TRAFFIC STOP

By Ray King/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
Saturday, November 7, 2009 12:33 AM CST

Three ounces of marijuana was found under the front seat of a vehicle police stopped for a traffic violation Wednesday and a passenger in the car reportedly admitted the drugs belonged to him.

Anthony Spencer, 18, told vice and narcotics officers the driver of the car had no knowledge of the marijuana, Deputy Prosecutor Cymber Gieringer said during a court hearing Friday.

Reading from an affidavit from Detective J.R. Harrell, Gieringer said officers stopped the car for not using a turn signal, and the driver, who was not charged, “acted nervous.”

She said Spencer was in the front seat and refused to give his name, and when the driver was asked if there were any guns in the car, said “no.”

“When asked if there were any drugs in the car he hesitated before saying ‘no,’ and when officers asked for permission to search the car, he also said ‘no,’” Gieringer said.

She said another officer arrived and reported that the car “matched the description of one that had been involved in several shooting incidents and the occupants should be considered armed and dangerous.

“The officers then did a felony stop with their guns drawn and removed both occupants from the car and instructed them to put their hands on the roof of the vehicle,” she said.

During a search of the front seat area, Harrell reported that officers found three plastic bags containing a green vegetable material that field tested positive for marijuana and weighed a total of three ounces under the front passenger seat.

Circuit Judge Rob Wyatt Jr., set a $2,500 bond for Spencer, who Gieringer said had no prior convictions, after ruling prosecutors had probable cause to charge him with possession of marijuana with intent to deliver.

Spencer told the judge he would hire his own attorney and was instructed to come back to court Dec. 1.

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