Sessoms
Yet another routine traffic stop has turned into a drug arrest on Sampson County roadways.
This time, a 32-year-old Stedman man was taken into custody after Sampson Sheriff’s deputies stopped him Oct. 6 for not having any license tag lights only to discover drugs in his possession.
According to Sampson Sheriff’s reports, Austin Lynn Sessoms, of 8842 Clinton Road, Stedman, was jailed under a $30,000 bond following the stop.
Sessoms was pulled over at a downtown convenience/gas station in Roseboro for the tag light violation, but when deputies tried to make contact with the driver, who turned out to be Sessoms, he at first refused to provide his name.
Sheriff’s Capt. Marcus Smith said Friday that deputies noted in reports that they smelled a scent of marijuana coming from the vehicle.
Sessoms retrieved the substance from the glove box of his car, approximately four or 5 grams, and turned it over to the officers.
A search of the vehicle during the arrest turned up a substance inside a cigarette pack that Sessoms told officers was “ice,” a derivative of crystal meth.
Over the last month, several suspects have been taken into custody during what started out to be routine traffic stops for drug charges, many of them leveled because suspects were either using the substance at the time or keeping it in their vehicle.
“No one ever said criminals were intelligent,” Smith said.