Ordinary Traffic Stop leads to Drug Arrests

On May 2, 2020, Deputy Travis Koch approached a Ford Fusion with the driver driving in an unusual behavior on Summertown Highway. After following the vehicle for a short distance and the behavior continuing, Deputy Koch stopped the vehicle at Tina’s Country Store parking lot.

While the driver was pulling over, the deputy observed the passenger attempting to reach for a bag in the back seat.

He noticed the driver was shaken and sweating following the stop. With this observation and the passenger reaching in the bag prior to the stop, he asked the driver, Gary Butler, and the passenger, Dustin Clay, to exit the vehicle.

Deputy Koch asked if he could search the vehicle. The driver stated the car belonged to his mother and there was nothing illegal in it. K-9 Deputy Cody Atkinson arrived at the scene and began a search with his dog, Titan. The dog did alert on the driver side door.

Deputy Koch and K-9 Deputy Atkinson then began a search of the vehicle and found a loaded syringe and a glass pipe with meth residue in the bag the passenger grabbed for in the back seat. Also an unloaded syringe was located.

Both Butler and Clay were transported to the Lewis County Jail with charges of meth - manufacture, deliver, sell and unlawful drug paraphernalia.