By DON FLETCHER
News Staff Writer
An Atmore woman was arrested January 6 by Atmore police on a felony drug possession charge after officers responded to a report that an “intoxicated disorderly female” was creating a disturbance at a local convenience store.
APD Sgt. Darrell McMann reported that the incident took place around 8:05 p.m. at Express Mart 6 on North Main Street.
A patrol officer who made contact with 65-year-old Barbara Robbins Crook in the store’s parking lot reported that Crook “had a strong odor of alcohol on her breath, was speaking incoherently and was swaying as she attempted to stand still.”
Things got worse for the local woman when a glass pipe fell out of her pocket as the officer questioned her. The pipe had a white residue in it that field-tested positive for cocaine.
Crook was placed under arrest and charged with one count each of possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.
She was booked into the Escambia County Detention Center (ECDC), where she remained Tuesday morning, January 9.
The only other felony charge lodged against a local resident during the period December 29-January 8 occurred January 7 when Escambia County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrested Maurice K. Jones, 39, on a first-degree marijuana possession charge.
First-degree pot possession can be charged when an individual has in his or her possession a quantity of marijuana deemed to be more than that person’s “personal stash,” any quantity of marijuana that is packaged for distribution, or any quantity of marijuana after the individual has been convicted once of second-degree possession.
Each of the first two instances constitutes a Class C felony. An upgraded charge due to a previous conviction for second-degree possession is a Class D felony. The jail website did not include details as to which situation resulted in the Atmore man’s arrest.
Jones remained in the ECDC Tuesday, January 9.