Lewis
Murphy – A local man was charged with methamphetamine trafficking after being stopped for driving with an expired license plate.
“That’s like screaming, ‘Pull me over and find my dope,’ ” Cherokee County Sheriff Derrick Palmer said regarding the expired tag.
Police encountered 42-year-old Fernando Kevin Lewis around 1:25 p.m. Thursday, when they noticed the tag infraction while traveling north on Blairsville Highway. Officials say Lewis was visibly nervous and shaking during the traffic stop.
After a police K-9 alerted authorities to the possibility of drugs in Lewis’ vehicle, deputies found 32 grams of alleged meth in the center console. Investigators also seized a digital scale from the driver’s side door, in addition to a hypodermic needle loaded with meth and several rounds of ammunition that were found in other areas of the vehicle.
Authorities say a passenger was in the vehicle, but Lewis cleared him of any charges.
“Fernando said it wasn’t that guy’s [drugs],” investigator Drew Payne said. “He didn’t want to say it was his, but he said it ain’t that guy’s.”
Palmer used this arrest to illustrate another reason why his deputies chase suspects who speed away during traffic stops, which he spoke about at length for a front-page article in the April 14 edition of the Cherokee Scout.
“[If Lewis had sped away], we would’ve been chasing him for a dead tag. But his vehicle could’ve been loaded down with dope or guns, or he could have kidnapped that other guy,” Palmer said. “You just don’t know why a person runs.”