Duo jailed after woman rolls blunt next to detective’s vehicle
By DON FLETCHER
News Staff Writer
A Mobile County man and woman were arrested December 18 on felony drug possession charges after one of them calmly rolled a blunt (a cigar in which the tobacco is replaced with marijuana) as she sat in a car unknowingly parked next to an Atmore Police Department investigator’s vehicle.
APD Sgt. Darrell McMann reported the incident took place around 10:40 p.m., in the parking lot of a business in the Rivercane area.
“When the investigator looked over at the vehicle next to him, he noticed the passenger, later identified as 32-year-old Desiree Carlock of Theodore holding a small plastic baggie containing a green leafy substance,” McMann said. “As he watched, Carlock began removing the substance from the baggie and placing it in a rolling paper.”
As she was rolling the illicit cigarette, the car’s driver — Wilmer Lee Reed, 44, of Mobile — got back into the car and left the establishment. The lawman left, too, and conducted a traffic stop.
A search of the vehicle and of the two occupants produced more than five grams of marijuana, three grams of methamphetamine, several roaches (partially smoked marijuana cigarettes) and various items of drug paraphernalia.
Field tests on the marijuana and methamphetamine each resulted in positive readings.
Reed was on probation in Mississippi for second-degree possession of marijuana, so he was charged with first-degree pot possession, as well as possession of a controlled substance. Carlock was charged with second-degree possession of marijuana, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Mississippi authorities placed a hold on Reed, who remained in the Escambia County Detention Center (ECDC), awaiting extradition, late Thursday, December 21. Carlock was released on bond December 19.
Other felony arrests reported during the period December 15-21 included the following:
*James Justin Sanspree, 40, of Atmore was arrested December 18 by Atmore police and charged with stealing materials from the company for which he worked.
McMann said APD investigators met December 7 with a local businessman, who told them he thought an employee was stealing from the company. A subsequent investigation revealed that Sanspree had taken approximately $1,600 worth of materials from the business. Second-degree theft occurs when the value of stolen property is more than $1,500 but less than $2,500.
An arrest warrant was obtained, and Sanspree was arrested the next day. He was released from the ECDC on bond shortly after his arrest.
*A Colorado man was arrested December 18 by Atmore police on a felony drug possession charge after dispatchers received a report from a convenience store cashier of a “suspicious person” in the store’s parking lot.
McMann said an officer on routine patrol responded to the Shell station on Alabama 21, near Interstate 65, and found 32-year-old Haden James Smethers “acting strangely as he was walking around in the parking lot.”
The officer tried to communicate with Smethers, but the Denver man “spoke incoherently and appeared to be under the influence.” A search of his vehicle turned up about a gram of a powdery substance that tested positive for cocaine, as well as a small amount of a green leafy substance that field-tested positive for marijuana, a cigarillo container with marijuana residue in it, and several medications that were prescribed to Smethers.
An ambulance was called to check the man’s well-being, and medics determined he was in no distress, police said.
Smethers remained in the county jail early Friday, December 22. He is charged with one count each of possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.
The jail website did not include a mug shot of the Colorado man.
*An Atmore woman was arrested December 19 after she provided Escambia County Sheriff’s Office deputies with a false name when they questioned her.
No details were furnished, but the county jail website shows that Courtney Paige Boutwell, 24, remained in the facility early Friday, December 22, held on a charge of obstructing justice by using a false ID.
The arrest marked the third time since mid-August the local woman has been jailed for a low-grade felony, having also been arrested for possession of a controlled substance and third-degree theft.