A traffic stop in Milton for an illegal turn by a Jay man Sept. 22 resulted in three felony charges involving drugs, evidence tampering and fleeing authorities.
Justin Lawrence Soley, 30, 6331 Hall Road, was observed making an illegal turn then following a car too closely in the 2007 Ford Explorer he was driving, according to a Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office report.
The officer initiated a traffic stop using both his lights and siren and saw the suspect look several times in the driver's rear view mirror and looking back at the officer as he tried to pull the Explorer over.
The report said the driver passed several streets and finally pulled over and the officer made contact. The officer observed an open bottle of beer and asked the suspect how much he had to drink. Soley told the officer he had nothing to drink and when the officer asked him who the can of beer belonged to, Soley replied that he had just that one beer, the report stated.
The officer then asked Soley why he had not stopped immediately when the officer turned on his lights and siren and Soley replied that he did not know the officer was behind him.
When the officer told Soley that he saw Soley look back at him several times, Soley appeared extremely nervous and that his hands and voice were trembling, the report said.
Soley began to reach for his left front pant pocket and the officer instructed him to keep his hands up. When Soley did not comply and continued reaching for his pocket, the officer opened the door, removed Soley from the vehicle, handcuffed him behind his back and arrested him for fleeing and eluding with lights and sirens, the report said.
When the officer asked Soley if there was anything illegal in the car, Soley replied, “No man, of course not. Go ahead and search it. There's nothing in there.” An inventory of the vehicle's contents rior to its being towed revealed a Crown Royal bag concealed inside a backpack, which was sitting on the passenger seat, according to the report.
Inside the Crown Royal bag was a glass pipe with a burnt waxy residue, a white straw with a white powdery residue and a small plastic bag containing a white powdery residue (methamphetamine). As the officer walked back toward his car where Soley was sitting, Soley stated the backpack wasn't his, before the officer could ask him whose it was, the report said.
After the officer placed Soley in the back of his patrol car, he noticed Soley moving around and realized that Soley had placed his handcuffs in front of his body. The officer removed Soley from the car and placed his handcuffed hands behind his back again, the report said. While he was being transported to the Santa Rosa County Jail, Soley began striking the patrol car cage with his head, screaming, “This will show you! You'll be fired for this! Now you're gonna see the repercussions of this!”, the report said.
Theofficer then pulled over, removed Soley from his patrol car, placed him on the ground and applied a hobble, the report said. Soley was transported the rest of the way by another officer whose patrol car had a full cage,
A search of the officer's patrol car following Soley's removal revealed a small plastic bag containing 0.1 grams of meth crushed and wedged between the floor of the transport cage and the front passenger seat partition, the report said. The officer observed several small pieces of meth mixed with dirt scattered all over the floorboard of the cage, as if Soley emptied the contents of the bag onto the floor and stomped on it, then smeared it across the floor.
Soley was charged with one count felony fleeing and eluding with light and sirens, one count felony possession of a controlled substance without a prescription, one count felony tampering with evidence and one count misdemeanor possession of drug equipment and given a total bond of $23,500.
