By DON FLETCHER
News Staff Writer
An Atmore man who abandoned his car when an Atmore Police Department patrol officer drove near, was arrested July 22 on drug trafficking charges after police found nearly three ounces of synthetic marijuana (Spice) in the vehicle.
Later the initial suspect was arrested again, along with four occupants of the residence at which he was staying, when a cadre of city and county lawmen found 50 grams of marijuana inside the house while making the initial arrest.
Police reports show the officer “saw a vehicle turn partially into a Sims Street driveway” around 6:50 p.m. The driver — later identified as Kendrick Bivins, 22 — inexplicitly fled from the vehicle on foot, surprising the officer, who reported he “made no effort to conduct a traffic stop, nor was he intending to stop the vehicle.”
As the officer approached the abandoned vehicle, he “detected a strong odor of marijuana coming from [it].” A probable cause search led to the discovery of more than 80 grams of Spice, a small amount of marijuana and numerous plastic baggies.
APD investigators learned that Kendrick Bivins was staying at a Fisher Lane residence, and police narcotics investigators and patrol officers, along with an Escambia County Sheriff’s Office deputy, went there to take the suspect into custody.
When lawmen arrived, three people — 21-year-old Tondrae Forney, 20-year-old Layton Frye and Kendrick Bivins — ran out the back door, into the arms of waiting officers. Police then ordered anyone still in the house to come outside.
Two more Atmore residents, 21-year-old Kendarrius Bivins and Lea Odom, 19, emerged from the house and were also detained by police.
According to reports, a search warrant was obtained due to “the overwhelming odor of marijuana coming from inside the residence.” Execution of the search warrant yielded more than 50 grams of marijuana, numerous plastic baggies and digital scales. All five were arrested.
Kendrick Bivins is charged with one count each of drug trafficking and first-degree possession of marijuana, along with two counts each of possession of drug paraphernalia and attempting to elude a police officer.
Forney and Frye were each charged with one count of first-degree possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia and attempting to elude a police officer. (Frye was out on band from his July 5 arrest by APD for possession of a stolen handgun.)
Kendarrius Bivins and Odom were each charged with one count of first-degree possession of marijuana and one count of possession of drug paraphernalia.
Escambia County Detention Center (ECDC) records show Odom was released July 24, and Frye was released July 29. The others remained behind bars Monday morning, July 30.
Brandon King
A South Carolina man was arrested July 19 after he led Flomaton, then Atmore, police on high-speed chases along U.S. 31 between Canoe and Atmore.
Police reports show that Atmore officers were sent to Baker’s Service Station in Canoe around 3:05 p.m. to “assist the Flomaton Police Department with a traffic accident investigation” involving a vehicle that had reportedly left the scene of a traffic accident.
As the neighboring lawmen were conducting their preliminary investigation, an Atmore officer reportedly “observed drug paraphernalia in plain view in the vehicle.”
The officer conducted a probable cause search of the vehicle and discovered an unspecified quantity of “white powder that field-tested positive for cocaine, along with several items commonly used to ingest narcotics.
The car’s driver, Brandon King, 32, of Columbia, S.C., was booked into the county jail on one count each of possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. Jail records show he was released July 23.
Tara DeSilvey
An Atmore woman was arrested on felony and misdemeanor drug possession charges when Poarch officers took her into custody early July 25.
County jail records show that PCI policemen booked 36-year-old Tara DeSilvey into the facility around 1:30 a.m.
She is charged with one count each of possession of a controlled substance, second-degree possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.
DeSilvey was still listed on the jail roster Tuesday morning, July 30.
Michael Baggett
City police arrested a Conecuh County man July 25 after he used a false identification number in an attempt to avoid arrest on several misdemeanor warrants.
The arrest was the result of a traffic stop conducted around 12:45 a.m. on Highway 21, near Interstate 65, on a vehicle whose driver committed an unspecified “moving violation.”
The driver, 41-year-old Michael Baggett of Repton, reportedly provided a false social security number. Despite the attempted dodge, the officer was able to positively identify Baggett and determine he was the subject of “several active misdemeanor warrants” obtained by city police.
Baggett, who remained in the county jail Monday, July 30, is charged with obstructing justice by using a false identity, which is a Class C felony.
Courtney Mitchell
Poarch Creek Tribal Police arrested an Atmore man July 24 on a felony drug possession charge.
It was the second such arrest in just over a month for Courtney Mitchell, 53, who was arrested June 18, along with a Florida woman, after police spied suspected narcotics in plain view inside a motel room to which they had been sent to conduct a “welfare check.”
No details of the latest arrest were provided, but jail records show Mitchell remained in the facility on Monday, July 30, charged with one count each of possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.