Fox News Flash top headlines for August 9
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A Georgia Southern quarterback who was arrested last week for cocaine possession had his charge dropped Thursday, an attorney said.
Shai Werts was arrested in South Carolina on July 31 after initially being pulled over for driving 80 mph, according to a Saluda County Sheriff’s Office report. Authorities at the time noticed a white substance on the hood of his vehicle and two tests of the substance came back positive for cocaine.
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Werts asserted that he thought the substance was bird poop and tried to clean it off of his car. The police report said officers noticed the substance appeared to have been wiped by windshield wipers and wiper fluid. Werts was initially charged with misdemeanor cocaine possession and speeding.
On Thursday, Wert’s attorney Townes Jones IV told WJCL-TV that his client’s cocaine possession charge was dropped.
“There was no way to prove [Werts] had any idea what the substance on his car was,” Jones told the station.
Al Eargle, a deputy solicitor of the 11th Judicial Circuit of South Carolina, told WTOC-TV that the substance tested negative for any controlled substances.
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According to the station, bodycam footage appeared to show responding officers bewildered at the substance that appeared on the hood of the car. When Werts told an officer he believed it was bird poop, the officer disagreed and told his supervisor about the positive test for cocaine.
"My little cocaine field test- it’s turning pink," the officer said, according to WTOC-TV. "It’s weird. He’s saying its bird poop, but I don’t believe anything he’s telling me. I don’t know, I think he must of threw it out at the front. I’m not sure how to wipe this stuff up though, and kind of contain it into evidence."
Werts, as he was being read his Miranda rights, told the arresting officer he plays football for Georgia Southern and didn't have any reason to lie about whether he uses cocaine.
Saluda County Sheriff's Deputy Toby Horne told WTOC-TV the responding officers did the right thing.
The speeding charge will remain, according to WJCL-TV.
Werts was initially suspended from participating in football activities but was reinstated once he passed a school drug test.
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Georgia Southern starts its season Aug. 31 against LSU.
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