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CAT Tracks for August 14, 2009
LOCAL DRUG BUST |
One of the frequent "topix" of conversation on local Internet is whether the Cairo police should be making traffic stops on I-57.
It all started a few years back when a Pulaski County resident - who just happened to be an attorney - got stopped and ticketed. If memory serves me correctly, that Pulaski County attorney "beat the rap", although the disposition of the case was somewhat murky.
After yesterday's local drug bust, this topic will likely move once again to the front burner...
From the WSIL TV Channel 3 Website
Police Discover 400 lbs. of Pot in Traffic Stop
By Dana Jay
CAIRO, Ill.-- A minor traffic stop near Cairo turned into a major drug bust. Officers say they took approximately $500,000 worth of marijuana off the street and one suspect into custody.
According to Cairo Police Chief Tim Brown, shortly before 8 a.m. Thursday an officer pulled over the driver of a red pick-up truck between the third and fourth mile markers of northbound Interstate 57. Brown says the driver was speeding.
During the course of the traffic stop, the man ran from the officer into the woods along the Cache River. He left his vehicle behind. Officers say they searched it and found approximately four hundred pounds of marijuana.
"It would have had a very high street value. I've been told approximately half a million dollars or more. It was headed to the street," said Alexander County Sheriff David Barkett.
The Alexander County Sheriff's Department, the Cairo Police Department, Illinois State Police, and several Pulaski County law enforcement agencies searched the area by foot for a hispanic male wearing dark pants and a white shirt with dark stripes. State police conducted an aerial search. Authorities also alerted nearby businesses.
Several hours later, "A gentleman fitting the description...was at the K&K Truck Stop in Mounds, Illinois," Barkett said.
"He was kind of nervous and fidgety," said K&K owner Mike Khourie, who said the suspect was looking for a bus stop.
"I told him where the bus station was at and I got him a ride. After I thought about it I put two and two together." Khourie called the police.
Cairo police and the Alexander County Sheriff's department stopped the vehicle on Highway 37 near Route 51 and took all three people in the car into custody.
The couple that picked up the suspect was released almost immediately. The Southern Illinois Drug Task Force questioned the suspect. He remains in custody. Officials are not identifying him at this time. He likely faces multiple felony charges. The investigation is ongoing.
djay@wsiltv.com
From the Southern Illinoisan
Police stop leads to 400 pound marijuana bust
By Mark Fitton
CAIRO - A police sergeant got a surprise Thursday morning when what began as a simple speeding stop turned into a big marijuana seizure and a felony arrest.
Sgt. Bernard Brown pulled over a pickup truck about 7:35 a.m. on northbound Interstate 57 between mileposts four and five, said Lt. Gary Hankins of the Cairo Police Department.
The driver got out of his truck and walked toward Brown's police car but was told to return to the cab of his truck, the lieutenant said.
Instead of getting back in the truck, the driver walked around the front of the vehicle, climbed over a guard rail and took off running across a field and then through a swamp, Hankins said.
Brown found an estimated 400 pounds of marijuana in the truck. The dozen or so brick-like packages weighed from roughly 5 pounds to 65 pounds, Hankins said.
Brown stayed with truck and the marijuana and relayed information about the fleeing suspect.
Hankins said it appears the man made his way to a local truck stop and told people he was looking for a ride to Sikeston, Mo. Later, people who helped the man get a ride apparently heard of the I-57 incident and thought he might be involved, so they called police.
Cairo police located the vehicle and the man about 1:15 p.m. near Illinois 3 and 37, Hankins said. The arrest was made without incident. The people who had given the man a ride did not know he was running from police, Hankins added.
Police declined to release the man's name Thursday night, saying they would forward the case to the state's attorney's office for review and formal charging. The man remained jailed.
The Southern
Have received word that this story "broke" on The Cairo Citizen website.
