Charlestown man arrested during traffic stop

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February 8, 2013

Charlestown man arrested during traffic stop

By GARY POPP gary.popp@newsandtribune.com The News and Tribune Fri Feb 08, 2013, 06:33 PM EST

CHARLESTOWN — The passenger in a vehicle was arrested on drug charges following a traffic stop made by Charlestown police last week.

Zakary Wayne Morgan, 26, of 2202 Tunnel Mill Rd. in Charlestown, was charged in Clark County Circuit Court No. 2. with D felony possession of a hypodermic needle and possession of paraphernalia, a class A misdemeanor.

The officer conducted the stop about 7:30 p.m. Feb. 2 after the vehicle was seen failing to stop at a stop sign.

The officer noted in the police report that the vehicle traveled a considerable distance before coming to a stop.

The driver of the vehicle, Joshua Darnley, told the officer he waited to pull over until he was underneath the light of a street lamp because he didn’t trust the police and feared an officer would shoot him.

The officer reported he found Morgan to be acting nervous, and he called for assistance from other officers.

A Charlestown police K-9 unit arrived, and the dog conducted an exterior search of the vehicle.

Both occupants were asked to step out of the vehicle, and Morgan gave officers permission to search his person.

During a search of Morgan, the officer reported finding an empty Marlboro cigarette package in a hole just above his jacket’s right pocket.

“Inside the cigarette pack was one hypodermic needle with residue inside of it along with the plunger section of another syringe,” the officer wrote in the report.

The officer also found a piece of aluminum foil in the cigarette pack.

An elastic band and a spoon with a piece of brown paper towel wrapped around the end of it was also found by police.

Morgan was placed in police custody and taken to the Charlestown Police Department where he refused to speak with police without an attorney present.

Police reported that while further examining the paper-towel wrapped spoon, a clear, plastic capsule was found in the wrapping.

The capsule had a white, powdery substance in between the edges that come together, according to the police report, and the spoon was found to have burnt residue on the bottom of it with what appeared to be residue on its top side.

Darnley denied to police any knowledge of the items Morgan had in his possession. He was given a written warning for failing to stop at the stop sign and released.

During a hearing Tuesday, a not guilty plea was entered on Morgan’s behalf and a public defender was appointed to his defense. A court-cash bond of $5,000 was set.

Clarksville PD makes arrest on needle possession

Clarksville police arrested a woman last week after finding her in possession of a hypodermic needle.

The officer reported he went to America’s Best Inn on Eastern Boulevard Feb. 3 after receiving information that Mary Kathryn Harris, 22, of Fairdale, Ky., was using heroin and soliciting prostitution at area motels.

Harris was found by the officer in a room of the motel with a man she knew visiting another room.

She told the officer she was staying at nearby Motel 6.

The officer asked Harris if there were any items in her room that didn’t belong.

“ ... she advised me that she did in fact have a heroin syringe over there and showed me fresh track marks on her left and right arm,” the officer wrote in the report.

Harris and the officer then went to the room listed under her name in Motel 6 where she produced a used syringe from behind a television set.

Harris was charged with unlawful possession of a syringe, a class D felony, in Clark County Circuit Court No. 2 Feb. 5.

A $10,000 court-cash bond was set and a not guilty plea was entered on her behalf.

A pretrial conference is scheduled for March 11.