APD traffic stop leads to meth trafficking arrest

By DON FLETCHER
Press editor

An Atmore man was arrested May 18 on drug charges after a traffic stop by city police led to the discovery of more than three ounces of methamphetamine in his vehicle.
APD Sgt. Darrell McMann reported the incident began around 11:05 p.m. when a vehicle without tail lights was stopped on 12th Avenue.

The driver, Darren Junior Knighten, 33, allegedly gave consent to a search of his vehicle, and officers discovered more than 50 grams of a crystalline substance that tested positive for methamphetamine, as well as several grams of marijuana and numerous clear plastic bags.
Knighten was charged with one count each of drug trafficking, second-degree possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia. He also received citations for driving while his license is revoked or suspended and for improper lighting, according to jail records.
He remained at the Escambia County Detention Center (ECDC) on Monday, May 27.
Ricky Ray Maddox

Another APD traffic stop, this one based on an improper tag, resulted in the arrest of a passenger for drug possession.
APD reports show the traffic stop occurred on May 20, around 8:30 p.m., on East Sunset Drive. An officer stopped the vehicle due to a “license plate violation,” according to reports.
While speaking with the driver and other occupants of the vehicle, the officer noticed that one of the passengers, later identified as Ricky Ray Matthew Maddox, 32, of Atmore, was “acting strangely,” which caused prompted to seek consent to search the vehicle. .
A glass pipe was found containing a crystalline residue that tested positive for methamphetamine, and Maddox was arrested on one count each of possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.
ECDC records show Maddox was released on bail on May 21.
Jaylon Jerrell North

On May 19, a traffic stop by city police for driving on the wrong side of the road resulted in the arrest of a 21-year-old Atmore man for possession of a stolen weapon.
The incident occurred around 1:40 a.m. on Wilson Avenue when an officer spotted a vehicle in which the driver was “driving the vehicle into the oncoming lane of traffic.”
As the officer approached the stopped vehicle, he noted a “strong odor of marijuana emanating from the vehicle.” As officers conducted a probable cause search, “it became apparent that (Jaylon Jerrell) North was under the influence and had failed standardized field sobriety tests.”
The search revealed a handgun that had been reported stolen from Atmore and North was placed under arrest. He was incarcerated at ECDC, from which he was released on bail on May 23, on one count of receiving stolen property in the second degree (a class C felony) and driving under the influence of a controlled substance.
John Lee Brown

No details were provided, but the ECDC website shows that county sheriff's deputies arrested an Atmore man on May 22 on criminal charges related to entering a home or building without invitation .
Johnathan Lee Brown, 36, was admitted to the facility on one count each of first-degree criminal mischief, third-degree burglary and fourth-degree theft of property, according to the jail log. The first two charges are felonies; the third is a misdemeanor.
Brown remained in the county jail on Monday, May 27.
Yeldon Devante Rostchild

Sheriff's deputies arrested an Atmore man May 23 on charges related to a shooting at an unspecified location in the county.
No details were available, but jail records show Yeldon Devante Rostchild, 30, is charged with one count each of discharging a firearm into a building or train, being a certain person prohibited from possessing a firearm and recklessly endangering.
Rostchild remained at ECDC on Monday, May 27.