MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Texas – Montgomery County officials caught multiple citizens with methamphetamine while conducting a number of random traffic stops, and other offenses, illustrating a growing problem with drug possession in the area. Eight people were arrested over a seven-day period.
According to investigators, around 12:45 a.m. on June 3, a Pct. 4 deputy constable was patrolling the Splendora area approaching the intersection of US 59 and FM 2090 when he noticed a van in a parking lot that was parked sideways and taking up three parking spaces. As the deputy turned into the parking lot, two men standing at the passenger side window of the van began to walk away.
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The deputy asked the van's front passenger what they were doing and he said the two men had just tried to sell them drugs. The deputy then addressed the two men who had walked away from the van and were standing at the front of the store. They had no state issued identification in their possession, but identified themselves as 20-year-old Evan Christopher George and 23-year-old James Michael McGehee.
McGehee denied having any contraband, but deputies found paper acid (LSD) in his possession. George had ephedrine in his possession, and dispatch confirmed he had an open warrant, deputies say.
The officer then had the van's occupants, two women and a man, step out of it. They denied having anything illegal inside the vehicle. However, a purse in the back seat belonging to rear passenger, Audra Renee Purifoy, 23, contained three syringes with methamphetamine inside. McGehee, George, and Purifoy were arrested and each charged with possession of a controlled substance, a state jail felony.
On June 5 around 7:45 p.m., a patrol deputy with the Precinct 4 Constable's Office noticed a man driving a pickup that was pulling a trailer with no lights. The deputy, who was stopped at the time, flagged down the driver, Joshua Allen Coker.
Upon making contact with Coker, the deputy noticed he was exhibiting signs of excessive nervousness. He also had a torch-style lighter on his lap, typical of those used when smoking methamphetamine. Coker had no explanation for the lighter and eventually admitted he was in possession of methamphetamine. The deputy asked Coker to exit the vehicle and when he complied, a clear plastic case containing over four grams of methamphetamine fell out. Coker was placed in custody and an additional search revealed more methamphetamine.
Coker, 20, of New Caney is charged with second-degree felony possession of a controlled substance.
On June 6 around 11:30 p.m., a Pct. 4 deputy constable was westbound on FM 1485 near Loop 494 when a vehicle pulled out of a driveway in front of him with no lights on. The deputy initiated a traffic stop and noticed the driver, Kristy Lynn Graggs, was extremely nervous and shaking. Graggs denied there was anything illegal inside the vehicle. She gave the deputy permission to search the vehicle, but said she did not "really see the point."The female passenger told the deputy she owned the car and, to her knowledge, there was nothing illegal inside. She also granted consent to search it.
The deputy deployed the Pct. 4 narcotics detection K-9, Libby, who alerted on the passenger side of the vehicle while conducting an open air sniff. A purse inside the vehicle contained a small clear plastic bag containing nearly four grams of methamphetamine.
Graggs then claimed ownership of the meth and insisted the passenger was unaware that it was stashed inside her purse. She volunteered the information that she was taking it to someone because she needed money, but denied selling it. Graggs later clarified that she planned to engage in prostitution when she reached her destination, saying it was typical for customers to request she bring narcotics to use with them, investigators said.
No other illegal substances or items were found in the vehicle and the other woman had no warrants, so she was released.
Graggs, 35, of New Caney is charged with second-degree felony manufacture / delivery of a controlled substance.
Narcotics investigators with the Precinct 4 Constable's Office, along with officers from the Houston Police Department's High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Group were conducting an investigation on Thomas Williams Blevins, who was already on federal probation for charges of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. Investigators suspected Blevins was engaging in illegal activity again, trafficking large quantities of meth from the Houston area into Montgomery County.
Investigators learned Blevins was driving with a suspended license. They had Blevins under surveillance on June 8 when authorities say Blevins acquired and transported a large amount of methamphetamine to East Montgomery County. He was driving illegally and went to the Porter Walmart, where he positioned himself in a remote area of the parking lot. Suspecting Blevins was about to make a transaction, deputies began to approach his vehicle and saw him toss something to the front passenger floorboard and begin reaching for the center console.
When deputies removed Blevins from the vehicle, they saw a clear plastic bag containing what turned out to be nearly four grams of methamphetamine. The vehicle also contained five other plastic bags with methamphetamine inside. All totaled, Blevins was in possession of 169.81 grams of methamphetamine. The street value of that amount of meth is around $17,000.
Blevins, 44, is charged with first-degree felony manufacture / delivery of a controlled substance.
On June 10, around 2:45 a.m., a Precinct 4 Deputy Constable attempted to initiate a traffic stop on a Chevrolet pickup that turned onto Antique Lane from Loop 494 having defective equipment. Upon reaching the stop sign at the US 59 service road, the driver opened his door slightly, but then turned onto the service road and sped away northbound, increasing to a high rate of speed before leaving the roadway and driving through a field toward the railroad tracks near Roman Forest Blvd. The driver then fled on foot into the nearby woods.
The driver was later identified by a copy of his driver's license left inside his vehicle as 33-year-old Andrew James Dejanovitz. He also left a passenger in the vehicle, Ashley Margaret Kobeszka, 30, of Cleveland.
A check through dispatch revealed Dejanovitz currently has a blue warrant, for parole revocation, and an additional warrant for burglary. A search of the vehicle produced multiple syringes, and less than one gram methamphetamine.
Ashley Kobeszka was arrested and charged with state jail felony possession of a controlled substance.
Dejanovitz remains at large, but will also be charged with possession of a controlled substance,and evading arrest.