Two men are facing weapon and drug allegations following a recent traffic stop here in Illinois.
On June 7, a car was traveling along Interstate 57 in Champaign County. The car contained: a 44-year-old man from Mississippi (the driver), a 27-year-old man from Harvey and three children.
Authorities say that the three kids were not seated in car seats. Authorities further allege that the car’s windshield was obstructed. A traffic stop was conducted by police on this car for these two reasons, according to authorities.
A drug-sniffing dog was used during the traffic stop. The dog indicated that drugs were present.
Police then searched the car. Authorities claim that cannabis, cocaine, a pistol and ammunition were found in the car.
The 44-year-old man and the 27-year-old man have past convictions. Also, there were some arrest warrants from other counties out on the 27-year-old man at the time of the incident.
The 44-year-old man and the 27-year-old man were arrested after the search. They have been charged with possession with intent to deliver cannabis, armed violence and unlawful possession of weapons by a felon.
Quite a few drug cases involve vehicle searches. As this case underscores, vehicle searches can come up during all different sorts of traffic stops. When police do a search of a vehicle during a traffic stop and find possibly incriminating evidence, there are several important questions to ask, including:
- How did the search come about?
- Was the search one that police were allowed to do?
- Did police act in an appropriate manner when conducting the search?
There are several types of actions or inactions by police which could make a search illegal. If a search was illegal, evidence found during it may be able to be suppressed, which can change the circumstances quite a bit in a drug crime case.
Source: The News-Gazette, “I-57 traffic stop leads to drug, weapon charges,” Mary Schenk, June 10, 2014
