Erratic driving and a missing headlight led to a traffic stop and the subsequent arrest of a Huntingburg man on OWI and drug possession charges over the weekend.
Just after 9 o’clock Saturday evening an officer with the Jasper Police Department was
working Operation Pull Over and while doing so he observed a vehicle near US highway 231 and Hoffman Road near the “Y” in Jasper that did not have an operational head light.
Next, while following the vehicle the officer observed that the driver of the vehicle identified as 39-year old Dustin Cooper of Huntingburg failed to use a turn signal when changing lanes near 231 and Hoffman Rd.
The officer conducted a traffic stop with the vehicle in the Huck’s parking lot, off Hoffman Rd. Upon making contact with Cooper and a 17 year old passenger police say there was a very strong odor of burnt and raw marijuana coming from within the vehicle.
A search was conducted and both Cooper and the 17 year old passenger were found to be in possession of marijuana.
Cooper admitted to police of smoking marijuana while driving from Huntingburg to Jasper. A certified test was completed at nearby Memorial Hospital and Cooper was found to have THC, Opiates, Amphetamines, and Oxycodone in his system.
The 17 year old passenger was referred to Juvenile Court and released to a guardian.
Cooper was taken to and booked into the Dubois County Security Center on charges of
Operating While Intoxicated with a person less than 18 in the vehicle and Possession of
Marijuana.
