crossthread
05-27-2005, 06:10 AM
Drug carrier courts trouble
The 20-year-old man who walked into the New Hanover County Courthouse Wednesday afternoon apparently didn’t read the signs about the checkpoint posted on the doors.
If he did, maybe he would have thought of a better place to stash the 14 bags of marijuana and 10 bags of heroin that were bulging out of his pockets, New Hanover County Deputies said.
Late Wednesday afternoon, Jermelle Monte Canty, of 708 Kidder St., walked into the courthouse, rounded the corner and freaked out when he saw the metal detector, deputies said.
“He didn’t have much of a poker face,” said New Hanover County Lt. Joe McCarthy the security coordinator for the courthouse.
Lt. McCarthy couldn’t help but chuckle.
“He came around the corner, saw the security checkpoint and all of a sudden he had this big sign flashing on his face, ‘I’ve got dope, I’ve got dope,’»” Lt. McCarthy said. “And then he says, loud and clear, ‘I’ve gotta go to the car,’ and that’s when the deputies went after him.”
When realizing that he would have to empty his pockets and go through the metal detector, Mr. Canty began to shoulder back through the line of people entering the courthouse, which is a one way entrance, but deputies caught up with him, Lt. McCarthy said.
“We were afraid he had a weapon on him,” he said of Mr. Canty. “My deputies were looking for a weapon, felt a big bag in his pocket, and realized that it was jam-packed, full of dope.”
Once Mr. Canty was detained, he continued to say, “It’s not mine, it’s not mine, I don’t know how it got there,” deputies said.
When the county’s vice and narcotics deputies came to process Mr. Canty, he had changed his story and said it was his, but only for personal use.
Mr. Canty also claimed that he was going to the courthouse to pay someone else’s fine, deputies said. He did not have a criminal record in New Hanover County.
Narcotics agents charged Mr. Canty with possession with intent to sell and deliver marijuana and heroin and placed him in the New Hanover County jail in lieu of a $25,000 bail.
New Hanover County deputies who are assigned to courthouse security bust people with small amounts of dope as they walk through the checkpoint on a regular basis, but Wednesday afternoon took the prize, they said.
“This, it was the most dope I’ve ever seen come through here,” Lt. McCarthy said. “We usually see a little baggy, an envelope, with marijuana, coke or heroin.
“The funny thing’s that we don’t even have to work for it,” Lt. McCarthy added. “Most of the time people just throw it in the basket and we ask, ‘Uh sir, is this yours?’ and they say, ‘Uh, yeah it is,’ and we have an arrest.”
Majsan Boström: 343-2075
majsan.bostrom@starnewsonline.com
:rolleyes:
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The 20-year-old man who walked into the New Hanover County Courthouse Wednesday afternoon apparently didn’t read the signs about the checkpoint posted on the doors.
If he did, maybe he would have thought of a better place to stash the 14 bags of marijuana and 10 bags of heroin that were bulging out of his pockets, New Hanover County Deputies said.
Late Wednesday afternoon, Jermelle Monte Canty, of 708 Kidder St., walked into the courthouse, rounded the corner and freaked out when he saw the metal detector, deputies said.
“He didn’t have much of a poker face,” said New Hanover County Lt. Joe McCarthy the security coordinator for the courthouse.
Lt. McCarthy couldn’t help but chuckle.
“He came around the corner, saw the security checkpoint and all of a sudden he had this big sign flashing on his face, ‘I’ve got dope, I’ve got dope,’»” Lt. McCarthy said. “And then he says, loud and clear, ‘I’ve gotta go to the car,’ and that’s when the deputies went after him.”
When realizing that he would have to empty his pockets and go through the metal detector, Mr. Canty began to shoulder back through the line of people entering the courthouse, which is a one way entrance, but deputies caught up with him, Lt. McCarthy said.
“We were afraid he had a weapon on him,” he said of Mr. Canty. “My deputies were looking for a weapon, felt a big bag in his pocket, and realized that it was jam-packed, full of dope.”
Once Mr. Canty was detained, he continued to say, “It’s not mine, it’s not mine, I don’t know how it got there,” deputies said.
When the county’s vice and narcotics deputies came to process Mr. Canty, he had changed his story and said it was his, but only for personal use.
Mr. Canty also claimed that he was going to the courthouse to pay someone else’s fine, deputies said. He did not have a criminal record in New Hanover County.
Narcotics agents charged Mr. Canty with possession with intent to sell and deliver marijuana and heroin and placed him in the New Hanover County jail in lieu of a $25,000 bail.
New Hanover County deputies who are assigned to courthouse security bust people with small amounts of dope as they walk through the checkpoint on a regular basis, but Wednesday afternoon took the prize, they said.
“This, it was the most dope I’ve ever seen come through here,” Lt. McCarthy said. “We usually see a little baggy, an envelope, with marijuana, coke or heroin.
“The funny thing’s that we don’t even have to work for it,” Lt. McCarthy added. “Most of the time people just throw it in the basket and we ask, ‘Uh sir, is this yours?’ and they say, ‘Uh, yeah it is,’ and we have an arrest.”
Majsan Boström: 343-2075
majsan.bostrom@starnewsonline.com
:rolleyes:
dummy