Dirty license plate leads to arrest of Lonsdale man on drug charges
A dirty license plate lead to a traffic stop early Monday that resulted in the arrest of a Lonsdale man on felony drug charges. Alfred Eugene Devore, 63, who lists a Highway 128 address, was taken into custody shortly before 3 a.m. and charged with possession of a controlled substance, meth, punishable by up to 10 years in prison, and possession of drug paraphernalia, punishable by up to six years, and misdemeanor counts of failure to appear and failure to comply.
Devore, who was also cited for improper display of a license plate and no liability insurance, was being held on a $9,500 bond and was set to appear Monday in Garland County District Court.
According to the probable cause affidavit, shortly after 2:30 a.m. Monday, Garland County sheriff’s Deputy Michael Wagner was eastbound on Park Avenue when he got behind a black Dodge Caravan and noted the van’s license plate was covered in dirt and “barely legible.”
The van stopped for a stop sign at one point and Wagner was finally able to make out the license plate and a computer check revealed there was no liability insurance for the vehicle, so he made a traffic stop on the van in the 5300 block of Park.
Wagner made contact with the driver, identified as Devore, while Deputy Charles DeLaHunt made contact with a female passenger, 44, and a computer check revealed both of them had misdemeanor warrants.
The deputies had both exit the vehicle and DeLaHunt reportedly noticed a glass meth pipe in the passenger side door. Next to the pipe was a prescription pill bottle that allegedly contained 3.9 grams of what later tested positive for meth.
They asked the woman if the pipe and meth were hers and she reportedly said no, and that Devore had given them to her and told her to “hide it” in the door pocket as they were being stopped.
When questioned, Devore allegedly admitted the meth and pipe belonged to him and he had given it to the woman to hide, so he was charged.