Officer Chris Rankin

Public Information Officer

903-798-3187 (office) 903-260-0294 (pager)

903-824-4199 (cell) 903-798-3023 (fax)

Texarkana Arkansas Police Badge

Re: Resisting Arrest/ Possession with Intent to Deliver

On 4/24/06 at 10:30pm officer Jeremy Gordon initiated a traffic stop on a vehicle in the 800 block of Belmont Street. The driver, later identified as Curtis Edwards (b/m/47 Texarkana, AR), pulled into a private driveway and immediately exited his vehicle and began walking toward the front porch of the house. Officer Gordon noted that the suspect dropped something on the ground in front of his vehicle as he was walking away.

Officer Gordon ordered the suspect to return to his vehicle which, at first, he did not do. As Edwards returned to his vehicle, officer Gordon noticed that the suspect was chewing on an unknown object and he refused to open his mouth or speak to the officer. At this point the officer believed that the suspect was attempting to conceal narcotics from him. (Oftentimes suspects will attempt to chew up or swallow small packages of narcotics in an effort to avoid detection.)

As officer Gordon attempted to gain control of the suspect to search him Edwards began to resist and a fight ensued between he and officer Gordon. During the struggle, officer Gordon noticed that the suspect did in fact remove an item from his mouth and throw it toward Belmont Street. Officer Gordon was able to pepper spray the suspect on two instances, but this reportedly had little or no effect. Other units arrived to assist officer Gordon with the arrest of the suspect and also to monitor a crowd that was beginning to gather at the scene.

Officers located a small plastic zip lock baggie at the front of Edwards' vehicle which contained approximately 1/2 gram of suspected crack cocaine. In addition to this, the baggie that Edwards had thrown while struggling with officer Gordon was retrieved and it also contained approximately 1/2 gram of suspected powder cocaine.

The suspect was taken to the Bi-State jail where he was booked and charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver, assault, and resisting arrest. No bond has been set. Neither the suspect or any of the officers involved sustained injury.

Thank you and you can visit the Texarkana Arkansas Police Department online at http://www.txkusa.org/arkpolice.