SYRACUSE – While on patrol Saturday morning in Syracuse, Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Dept. deputy James Marshall nabbed a local man for drinking and driving as well as possession of cocaine.
Kegan Charles Young, 23, of 209 E. Baltimore St., Syracuse, was arrested for driving while intoxicated, a misdemeanor, and possession of cocaine.
Marshall was stopped at a gas station at the intersection of Pittsburgh and Huntington streets, when he saw a man driving a red Chevrolet truck travel south on Huntington Street and turn east onto Pittsburgh Street without his seatbelt on.
Marshall initiated a traffic stop for driving without a seatbelt. The truck pulled over into the parking lot of Godfroy Marine on Front Street.
When Marshall informed Young of why he was stopped, he asked Young to come to his patrol car while he wrote him a ticket for not wearing his seatbelt. At this point of the traffic stop, KCSD deputy Brad Kellar arrived on scene to assist.
While Marshall was talking to Young he could smell the odor of alcoholic beverages. Upon further investigation, Marshall noticed that Young’s eyes were glassy and his speech was slurred.
Marshall asked Young if he had anything to drink, and Young said he had a few.
During the conversation, Kellar was walking around the vehicle looking inside the windows. Marshall noticed that Young became very agitated and Young asked why Kellar was searching his vehicle. Marshall explained that he was not searching the vehicle but he was simply looking in the truck from the outside.
Young agreed to take some standardized field sobriety tests. Young did not pass the tests.
Marshall then read Young the Indiana Implied Consent Warning. Young agreed to take the certified test. As Marshall was placing Young in the front seat of his vehicle, Kellar went to retrieve the keys from the vehicle and lock it. At this time Young became very agitated and asked why Kellar was searching his vehicle.
When Kellar returned he informed Marshall that there was a plastic baggie with white powder in plain view on the front seat. Kellar asked Young if it was methamphetamine or cocaine. Young said he did not know anything about it and that he had just dropped someone off.
Marshall transported Young to the Syracuse Police Department for the certified chemical test. Young’s blood alcohol content was .13 percent.
Young was then taken to the Kosciusko County Jail and booked on a $550 bond.
