A $50,000 bond was set Monday for a Pine Bluff teenager arrested on drug and weapons charges Friday.
Pine Bluff District Judge John Kearney set the bond after ruling prosecutors have probable cause to charge Amariyha Johnson, 19, with possession of a controlled substance with purpose to deliver and simultaneous possession of drugs and firearms.
Johnson was a passenger in a white Hyundai that Officer Kevin Collins stopped at 26th Avenue and Olive Street for making an improper lane change.
According to a probable cause affidavit from vice and narcotics Detective Jeremy Crosby, Collins reported that Johnson, who was in the rear passenger seat, began making “sudden unnecessary movements” when Collins approached the vehicle and initially refused Collins’ command to show his hands.
When Collins reached the vehicle, he saw a .32-caliber handgun in plain sight inside the vehicle and ordered Johnson to exit, which he did. During a pat down search for officer safety, a plastic bag containing 19.1 grams of suspected marijuana was found on Johnson’s person.
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The driver of the vehicle told police that the suspected drugs and handgun belonged to Johnson and Johnson said that “everything in the car belongs to me.”
A records check of the serial number of the gun showed that it had not been reported stolen and the gun and suspected drugs will be sent to the Arkansas State Crime Laboratory.
The Public Defender’s Office was appointed to represent Johnson, who had no prior convictions or pending charges.