Multiple felonies, misdemeanors tied to traffic stop, search
Published 6:11 pm Tuesday, November 22, 2016
A traffic stop due to reckless driving turned into a lot more for the Warren County Sheriff’s Office Monday and led to a total of eight people being arrested for a mixture of felonies and misdemeanors.
Monday afternoon, deputies pulled over a 1999 Ford Expedition near the intersection of Freetown Road and Gray Line Road, for reckless driving. When their K-9 officer alerted deputies of drugs in the vehicle, it became far more than a traffic stop.
After removing the three individuals from the car, deputies discovered drug paraphernalia, syringes filled with methamphetamine and several grams of high-grade methamphetamine called “Ice.”
“This is far more pure than your normal meth,” Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace. “This is not something that is manufactured here, but something we have seen coming in from places like
south Texas and California.
“Ice is manufactured in more of a laboratory setting than the normal ‘shake and bake’ meth labs and methods we have seen around here.”
The driver of the car, 49-year-old Brandon Dax Freeman, of the Flowers community, was arrested and initially charged with possession of a controlled substance.
Robert Curlee, 47, of Florence, was a passenger of the car and was charged with possession of a controlled substance. It was later discovered Curlee had an outstanding warrant from Hinds County on drug charges.
Amber Allen, 19, of Clinton, was charged with a misdemeanor for possession of drug paraphernalia.
Pace said deputies later executed a warrant on Freeman’s home, where they found additional evidence of drugs, firearms and other individuals.
Upon searching the home and the vehicles, deputies arrested Melissa Clement, 31, of Vicksburg for possession of a controlled substance, as she had two syringes filled with meth.
They also arrested Brandon Wayne Dycus, 32, of Vicksburg, for misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia. He also had an outstanding misdemeanor warrant.
Also arrested was Delton Ray Burns, 44, of Vicksburg, for outstanding local warrants and 19-year-old Austin Antoine, of Vicksburg, for misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia.
But that wasn’t the last discovery.
Also in the search, Freeman was discovered to have violated his parole by being in Mississippi in the first place.
Freeman, earlier convicted on drug charges, had transferred his probation to Alabama and was being monitored in Alabama. His discovery in Mississippi was a violation of his parole.
He was also in possession of a .22 rifle, which was also illegal.
Those additional charges led to Freeman receiving a $25,000 bond Tuesday. But, a hold has been placed on him due to violating his parole.
Curlee, who had initially gave deputies a false name when they pulled over the Expedition, was found to have a .22 rifle in his vehicle. He too was previously convicted of a crime, which makes it illegal to own a firearm.
The $15,000 bond placed on him for the drug charges Tuesday is also not a factor, as he is being held due to the outstanding warrant in Hinds County.
A judge Tuesday also placed a $15,000 bond on Clement tied to her felony drug charge.
As for those charged with misdemeanors, they also received bonds.