Smyrna police recovered a large amount of drugs from a man accused of tossing the stash into a storm drain while running away from a traffic stop.
Javon Lamar Ridgley, 23, was charged by police with felony possession of a schedule I or II drug with intent to distribute, fleeing or attempting to elude police, obstruction, driving on a suspended license, reckless driving, stop sign violation and possession of marijuana following the March 22 encounter.
According to an arrest warrant, a Smyrna officer tried to pull over a black Dodge Journey that ignored a stop sign at the intersection of Roswell and Spring streets. The driver of the Dodge, later identified as Ridgley, did not stop and tried to flee by driving into the Smyrna Community Center parking lot “at a high rate of speed.”
The car continued through the lot before Ridgley hopped out the driver’s seat and bolted from the scene towards Powder Springs Street, the warrant said.
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A nearby Cobb County police officer saw Ridgley running and stopped him in his tracks by holding him at gunpoint.
Ridgley was taken into custody, and the Cobb officer told Smyrna police he saw Ridgley take two plastic bags from his pants pocket and throw them into the storm drain during his attempt to escape, the warrant alleges.
Officers recovered the bags, one of which contained 190 small, round colored tablets with designs printed on them. A field test conducted at the scene determined them to be ecstasy.
The other bag contained about 28.6 grams of marijuana, and officers found a rolled joint filled with marijuana inside the Dodge, according to the warrant.
Ridgley was booked into the Cobb County Adult Detention Center and was released March 24 on a $16,720 bond.
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