EUSTIS, Fla. (TND) — Two friends are facing felonies after a curious cop "entered the license plate" of their black Ford truck into the state computer and found the registration "had expired in December of 2023."
That officer pulled them over last Tuesday night, May 21, in Florida, and, “While speaking to the occupants,” he wrote in their identical arrest reports, “I could see in plain view two firearms in holsters, when near the passenger and one near the driver.”It turned out, the driver and registered owner, David Paul Rogers, had a suspended license since last Dec. 18 and failure to pay a traffic fine on April 15.
The two were separated and the officer wrote, “I asked David if he received the citation he did not pay, and he stated he allowed a friend to borrow his vehicle when he apparently ran a red light and received a ticket in the mail.“David advised he just saw the letter last week. David stated he did not know his license was suspended.“I asked David for proof of insurance, and he was unable to provide any.”That may be the least of his problems.
The big trouble started when that curious cop wrote, "I asked dispatch if a canine officer was available.”Another officer drove to the traffic stop scene, and the arrest reports said, “I asked David for consent to search the vehicle, which he denied.”A few minutes later, that didn't seem to matter.
“I began working on completing three citations when [the other officer] arrived on scene with his canine partner, Bruce.“[They] walked around the vehicle and informed me of a positive alert, giving probable cause to search.”The officer described what he found, starting with the passenger, Nova Ciara Badgley.
Her purse had “a gabapentin medicine bottle,” he wrote. “Inside were two gabapentin pills and eight Xanax bars and a partial Xanax bar [and] a grinder with marijuana residue and a small amount of marijuana in the same purse.“I located a plastic container in the center cup holder with a small amount of marijuana inside.
“On the driver floorboard, I located a black bag. Inside, I located a mint container. Inside the mint container was a small plastic clear bag with approximately one gram of crystal-like substance inside,” which he wrote was methamphetamine.Badgley and Rogers were arrested.
Then, “I asked David if the black bag by his feet was his, and he stated yes.
“I asked him if the methamphetamine inside the bag was his, and he denied knowledge of it.
“He advised he helped Nova’s grandmother move recently, and it could be hers.”As for the passenger, “I asked Nova about the gabapentin pill bottle in her purse. She advised it belonged to her grandmother and she helped her move recently.“I asked if she knew there was Xanax in the bottle, and she stated yes.
“I asked if she had a prescription for Xanax, and she said no.“Nova advised it must have been her grandmother's.”In the end, “The two firearms were collected and submitted for safekeeping,” and the two suspects were booked after midnight.
Rogers, 41, was charged with possession of a controlled substance (methamphetamine), and released after 39 hours in jail in lieu of $2,500 bond.
Badgley, 25, was charged with possession of a controlled substance (Xanax) and spent just 25 hours behind bars with the same bond amount.
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