A 19-year-old Pacific man and 17-year-old Franklin County woman were arrested on suspicion of various drug charges after being spotted in the Walmart parking in a Chrysler PT Cruiser that didn’t have license plates, Eureka Police reported. At about 1:18 a.m. Dec. 2, an officer spotted the PT Cruiser parked alongside the store, 131 Eureka Town Center Drive.
When the officer approached the vehicle, which had its interior light on, he saw four people in the car using vape kits and saw a jacket that had a medicine bottle in the pocket. The bottle appeared to have green vegetation in it and several pills, the report said. When the driver opened his door, the officer also noticed the smell of marijuana.
The Pacific man told the officer the car didn’t have license plates because it had been recently purchased and there hadn’t been time to get plates, but he was evasive about where he bought the car, the report said.
The man voluntarily turned over a plastic shopping bag that contained a green-leafy material that had an appearance and odor consistent with marijuana, and the pill bottle contained a small quantity of what appeared to be marijuana and four pills that resembled Xanax, the report said.
When the officer searched the car, he found a metal pipe with residue, a zipper bag with several empty cigarillo packages, a glass smoking pipe with residue and a metal grinder with traces of vegetable matter.
A female passenger allegedly said the drug paraphernalia was hers, and she was issued a summons and released at the scene, Lt. David Wilson said.
The Pacific man was found to have a warrant through St. Louis County Police for a traffic violation, and he was transported to the Eureka Police station. Wilson said Eureka Police will seek a warrant through Eureka Municipal Court for possession of drug paraphernalia, 35 grams or less marijuana and possession of controlled substance. The man was held for St. Louis County Police.