A traffic stop in Burlington has led to the arrests of three people who were allegedly secreting cocaine and drug paraphernalia in more than a half dozen places when they were caught.
According to the office of Alamance County’s sheriff, this multiplicity of hiding spots was unearthed in the small hours last Tuesday after sheriff’s deputies saw a vehicle fail to come to a complete halt at a stop sign along North Ireland Street.
The sheriff’s office has identified the vehicle’s driver as Deborah Lynn Hooker, a 64-year-old white female of 6810 Flyway Run – a location in the county’s northeastern reaches that has a Burlington address. During their interactions with Hooker, the deputies reportedly spotted a white powder that resembled cocaine.
A subsequent search turned up some of this presumptive drug in a seat occupied by Angela Mae Berry – a 54-year-old white female of 190 North Main Street in Denton.
Chunks of the same suspicious substance were later found, along with a pair of glass pipes, near the vehicle’s center console. Meanwhile, a set of digital scales was pulled out of a “small compartment under the steering wheel,” and additional drug paraphernalia was discovered in the back seat of the car.
According to the sheriff’s office, deputies found another pipe in the coat of a passenger identified as Ernest Eddie Hodge, Jr. A 67-year-old white male of 1131 Pollard Avenue, Burlington, Hodge had also allegedly concealed some powder under his hat, while more of this same substance surfaced in an unspecified location when Hodge was booked into Alamance County’s jail.
Based on these discoveries, the sheriff’s office has charged all three of the suspects with the felony-level possession of a Schedule II controlled substance. In the meantime, Hooker and Hodge face misdemeanor charges for the possession of drug paraphernalia, while Hodge has incurred another felony for the possession of a controlled substance on the premises of the county jail.
The bonds for both Hooker and Berry have been set at $10,000. Hodge, meanwhile, was initially placed under a $30,000 bond which court records show was reduced to $5,000.
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