BPS: Traffic Stop Leads to Two Cocaine Arrests

Bainbridge Public Safety arrested two for possession of cocaine after a routine traffic stop Sunday night.

According to the BPS incident report, around 2:15 a.m., BPS Officers Jayson Myers and Tarow Barney were patrolling Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive in Bainbridge when they observed a Toyota Camry drift across the white fog line.  PSO Myers initiated a traffic stop and made contact with the driver, Gregory Jackson and his passenger, Yolanda Baulkman.  Two sleeping children were in the back seat.  While speaking to the driver, Myers detected the odor of alcohol, at which point he asked Jackson to step out of the car.

While questioning Jackson, PSO Myers asked if there was anything illegal in the car.  Jackson stated that he wasn’t aware of anything, but that his cousin had borrowed the car earlier, so he couldn’t be sure.  According to the incident report, Jackson then gave Myers permission to search the vehicle.

At that time, PSO Myers made contact with the passenger, Yolanda Baulkman and asked if there was anything illegal in the car.  She told PSO Myers that she wasn’t sure because she had just been picked up.  Myers instructed Baulkman to step out of the vehicle and when she did, she handed an open container of alcohol to PSO Barney, saying it belonged to her.

While PSO Barney stood by with Baulkman and Jackson, PSO Myers conducted a search of the vehicle which turned up a small blue plastic bag with suspected cocaine in a cup holder.  Neither occupant admitted to ownership of the drug.  In the passenger floorboard, PSO Myers located a brown paper bag which contained several items including a pack of Newport cigarettes.  Inside the cigarette pack was another small plastic bag with suspected cocaine.  Myers asked Baulkman if the cigarettes were hers and she stated they were.

Both bags of suspected drugs were secured in the patrol car and Jackson and Baulkman were arrested for possession of cocaine.  The children were released to a family member and the car was turned over to a sober, licensed driver.