A driver who made an improper stop Friday evening, Aug. 8, was arrested on felony drug charges after a traffic stop on State Route 47 near County Road 35.
Deputies of the Logan County Sheriff’s Office stopped a Toyota car on S.R. 47 after it was observed traveling northbound on C.R. 35 and rolling past the stop sign at the intersection with S.R. 47 before stopping.
The vehicle stopped in a location that could have resulted in a collision or made it difficult for other motorists to turn onto C.R. 35, deputies noted.
A records check on the car showed it is owned by a known narcotics user.
Deputies made contact with the driver, Steven Huffman, 55, of Lewistown, who said he worked for the vehicle’s owner. The driver, who exhibited behaviors and physical signs of associated with drug abuse, told deputies he had recently been arrested for methamphetamine use.
Huffman would not grant permission to search the vehicle.
Bellefontaine Police Department K-9 Pyro was called in and alerted law enforcement via an “open air sniff” to the presence of drugs in the in driver’s side door area.
During a subsequent search of the vehicle, deputies recovered a glass pipe with black and white residue and a Chore Boy-brand pot scrubber cleaning product commonly used in smoking crack cocaine. Two baggies containing a white substance and chunks of a white substance, later identified as crack cocaine, were also found in the car.
The weight of the recovered narcotics was about 4.25 grams.
Huffman was arrested for possession of controlled substances, a fifth-degree felony, and possession of drug paraphernalia, a fourth-degree misdemeanor.
The suspect was lodged in the Logan County Jail.
