MITCHELL – A Mitchell man faces numerous drug charges after a Mitchell Police officer stopped his vehicle on Wednesday, March 20.
Mitchell Police Officer Izabelle Foster stopped 39-year-old Shawn Rogers at 2:20 a.m. after she spotted him traveling south on State Road 37 and quickly pulled into the Shell gas station. Roger was stopped because his vehicle had a red license plate light.
Officer Foster said Rogers had glossy eyes and pinpoint pupils and believed he was under the influence of drugs. She then learned Rogers was driving on a suspended driver’s license.
Rogers told her his license was not suspended and “had been taken care of by the courts.” However, he could not provide any paperwork to prove that statement. Rogers was then issued a citation for driving while his license was suspended.
Officer Foster then noticed the cap to a syringe in plain view. Rogers told her it was from one of his co-workers and that his friend used drugs, but he didn’t. He was then asked to step out of the vehicle.
He provided the officer with a card and stated he had a right to pick up needles. He then said he found it and picked it up, but it was just the cap.
Officer Foster requested permission to search the vehicle, but he denied that request.
When asked why his eyes were glassy and his pupils pinpointed, he told Officer Foster he was tired from working long hours. He then asked why the officer was harassing him, and he just wanted to go home.
Lawrence County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Joshua Rhoades responded to the scene with his canine Dusty, who alerted officers to drugs in the vehicle.
Officer Steven Britten arrived to assist.
Officers found a syringe and tourniquet in the driver’s side door and a plastic straw containing meth residue. Under the floor mat, police found a metal container with cotton. An Avengers box was located in the passenger seat. In it, police found a tourniquet, a glass pipe with meth residue, pills, 20 syringes, and a small container containing heroin and crystal meth. They also found baggies containing meth and heroin in the ashtray.
Rogers continued to be argumentative and shouted that the items found in his vehicle were not his and belonged to his friend and co-workers.
Rogers was detained on charges of possession of meth, possession of a controlled substance, and unlawful possession of a syringe.
