Police reported several incidents that occurred near the end of April. These incidents all occurred in or around the Maryland town of Havre de Grace.
On April 22, a juvenile was charged after harassing a man in his yard and spitting on him. The same day, a wallet was reported stolen, and a man and his stepson were reported having an altercation although there were no injuries. The following day, a traffic stop turned into drug possession charges when officers stopped a woman for speeding and smelled marijuana. When they did a search, they found a bag that appeared to contain cocaine.
Another person was detained on drug charges on April 27 after running from a traffic stop. He faces charges of resisting arrest, possession of drugs other than marijuana and possession with intent to distribute cocaine and heroin. One man was yelling at juveniles in the street around 10:34 p.m. on April 28. He was taken into custody after he refused a police order to go inside and charged with refusing a lawful order.
As these incidents demonstrate, in some cases, what appears to be minor can escalate into more serious charges. This may be particularly true with drug charges whether they involve low levels of possession or more severe offenses such as intent to distribute. An attorney might consider a few different avenues of defense or of getting the charges reduced. For example, in the case of the suspected cocaine, a lab could make an error in testing the substance. Another possibility in some cases is getting evidence dismissed or charges dropped altogether if law enforcement did not have a search warrant or probable cause to look for the drugs.
Source: Havre de Grace Patch, “Drug Dealing Charge After Traffic Stop Bailout: HdG Crime“, Elizabeth Janney, May 2, 2018