Cops issue holiday warning after driver, 73, charged with drug use during traffic stop
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A holiday warning from the Seattle Police Department: “Please abstain from using cocaine, especially during a traffic stop.”
One 73-year-old Washington man learned that lesson the hard way, after he spilled cocaine on himself while pulled over for a headlights infraction on Dec. 2.
“You’re about to snort coke on the side of the road?”
Officer Nic Abts-Olsen initiated the stop around 8:30 p.m. when he noticed the unidentified man’s Toyota did not have its lights on. Before Abts-Olsen approached the vehicle, he saw the driver had a spotless driving record. As he walked to the driver’s side door, Abts-Olsen later said he was prepared to simply give the man a warning.
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Then he saw white powder all over the driver and a vial in the man’s left hand.
“Are you kidding?” Abts-Olsen said in a video posted on seattle.gov. “You’re about to snort coke on the side of the road?”
The man initially attempted to explain the substance was “vitamins.”
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“Finally, the man relented, complimented Officer Abts-Olsen on his keen detection skills and admitted that snorting cocaine in the middle of a traffic stop was, perhaps, a poor decision,” a story on the police department blog said.
The 73-year-old driver was arrested and booked into the King County Jail for narcotics possession.