Tuesday April 19
In the early morning hours of Tuesday, April 19, Bainbridge Public Safety Captain Terry Pait initiated a traffic stop that turned into a drug arrest.
According to the Bainbridge Public Safety report, Captain Pait was patrolling on Shotwell Street in Bainbridge when he noticed a vehicle travelling with a headlight out. After initiating the traffic stop, Captain Pait made contact with the driver, Francoise Thornton. Also in the vehicle were Joseph David McClain (in the front passenger seat) and Tameika Chanel Fleming (right rear passenger seat). After 911 ran Thornton’s driver’s license, Captain Pait was notified that the license was suspended for “Child Support Obligations”.
At this point, Captain Pait placed the driver, Francoise Thornton, under arrest for driving with a suspended license and requested consent to search the vehicle. Although Thornton originally deferred permission to his girlfriend (who he stated owned the car), Captain Pait advised that the driver was in control of the vehicle and could give consent.
After receiving Thornton’s consent and removing the passengers from the vehicle, Captain Pait found the following (from the report):
“Two (2) small clear baggies containing what appeared to be a white powdery crystal like substance suspected to be cocaine and/or molly. One of the small baggies was located on the drivers side floor board approximately three inches in front of the seat. The second small clear baggy was located approximately mid ways under the drivers seat.”
Along with the Suspended license arrest, Thornton was also arrested for Possession of a Controlled Substance.
Saturday, April 17
In the late night hours of Saturday, April 17, Bainbridge Public Safety Officers George McMillan and Jessica Richardson were patrolling the Shotwell and Sims Street area and noticed a white Toyota Corolla without any tail lights. After initiating a traffic stop, Officer McMillan noticed the odor of unburnt marijuana coming from the vehicle.
The driver, Keivon Eugene Mason, stated that he had been smoking some marijuana earlier, but did not have any in his possession at that time. A female passenger stated that the vehicle was a rental and there was no contraband inside. Mr. Mason then stated “Y’all can look if you want to”. At that point, the other passengers stated they didn’t mind if a search was conducted either.
When Officer McMillan began searching the car, he “immediately noticed a green leafy substance suspected to be marijuana on the driver side floorboard.”.
Keivon Eugene Mason was arrested and charged with possession of marijuana and driving while license suspended.
Information contained was provided by Bainbridge Public Safety incident reports.
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