CENTRAL POINT, Ore. — The use of a K9 during a traffic stop early Thursday morning led deputies to arrest four people after discovering drugs on each of the occupants, according to the Jackson County Sheriff's Office (JCSO).
Just after 1 a.m., a deputy assigned to White City pulled over a white Pontiac Grand Am for a traffic violation in the 6700-block of Crater Lake Highway. The deputy called in assistance from a K9 team with Central Point Police, and the dog soon alerted to the presence of drugs.
During the subsequent search and investigation, officers found drugs in different quantities on each of the four people in the car, JCSO said.
The driver, 47-year-old James Gary Tacia, was arrested for driving with a suspended license and possession of a "user amount" of methamphetamine.
One of the passengers, 37-year-old Daniel Lee Hutchinson Jr., was arrested for a parole violation from a prior conviction for unlawful use of a weapon and possession of a user amount of heroin, JCSO said.
Another passenger, 19-year-old Bridgette Rhean Cowart was arrested, then cited and released after the officers found her with a user amount of meth.
JCSO said that the final passenger, 38-year-old Tassaney Louise Mahoney, was found with almost four ounces of meth and equipment "commonly used for drug packaging and sales."
Mahoney was lodged in jail on charges of possession, manufacture, and distribution of methamphetamine. Hutchinson and Tacia were also lodged at the Jackson County Jail for possession and the other listed charges.
[Below: Tassaney Mahoney at booking]
