Unlit bike, chase lead to cocaine charge
By DON FLETCHER
News Staff Writer
The following felony arrests of local residents were reported by Atmore Police Department officers during the period July 4-8:
*Gregory Brown, 56, was arrested after he was discovered riding his bicycle without lights down Liberty Street.
Brown, who was the subject of several outstanding warrants, took off on the bike while officers were checking his identity but was taken into custody minutes later in a wooded area.
While apprehending him, police found “a metal straw used to ingest narcotics.” It contained “a white, rocky substance that field-tested positive for cocaine.”
Brown was booked into the Escambia County Detention Center (ECDC) on one count each of possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia and attempting to elude a police officer.
The Atmore man also had active warrants for his arrest on charges of first-degree theft of property, third-degree criminal mischief, and third-degree criminal trespass.
Brown remained in the ECDC Monday afternoon, July 17.
*A 41-year-old Atmore man, Robert Edward Lowery, was arrested June 28 after Atmore Police Department narcotics agents executed a search warrant at a Rockaway Creek Road residence.
The drug cops raided the home around 7:15 a.m. and turned up unspecified quantities of methamphetamine and diazepam, along with digital scales, plastic baggies and other paraphernalia.
The agents placed Lowery under arrest. He was booked into the ECDC on two counts of possession of a controlled substance and one count of possession of drug paraphernalia. He was released on bond July 11.
*Atmore police arrested Reginald Gibbs, 42, on July 6 after he sped away from an attempted traffic stop, then was nabbed four hours later with drugs on his person.
Police reports show that an APD officer attempted to conduct a traffic stop after recognizing Gibbs as the subject of several active misdemeanor arrest warrants.
When the officer initiated his vehicle’s emergency lights, Gibbs “drove away at a high rate of speed.” The officer decided not to pursue the speeding vehicle due to Gibbs’s “lack of regard for the safety of citizens in the area.”
The suspect was observed walking in the Patterson Street area around 3:35 p.m. This time Gibbs fled on foot, but he made it only a short distance before he was captured. When officers were patting him down, they discovered “a clear baggie of a green leafy substance,” which tested positive for synthetic marijuana (Spice).
Gibbs was booked into the county jail on one count of possession of a controlled substance and two counts of attempting to elude a police officer. He was still in jail Monday afternoon, July 17.
Details weren’t immediately available, but the ECDC website shows Escambia County Sheriff’s Office deputies made the following felony arrests of Atmore residents during the period July 5-10:
*Anthony E. Montgomery, 51, was charged with one count each of possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was released from jail on bond July 6.
*A 77-year-old man, Bobby Lee Riley, was taken into custody and charged with one count each of first-degree assault and third-degree criminal trespass. Riley was freed July 6 on bond.
*Deputies arrested Clarence Kemp, 35, on July 10 and charged him with one count each of possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, possession of drug paraphernalia and probation violation. Kemp remained behind bars Monday afternoon, July 17.