After receiving a tip that there was going to be a drug transaction on the parking lot of a convenience store on South Olive Street Monday, Pine Bluff Police Department vice and narcotics officers went to the lot and arrested two men who were inside a vehicle that matched the one that the tipster had provided.
Tilton Rhodes, 34, who is currently on parole, and Kenneth Thompson, 42, were taken into custody, and the suspected drugs were seized, Pine Bluff Police Department Detective Michael Battles said in a probable cause affidavit presented in Pine Bluff District Court Wednesday.
According to the affidavit, the unknown caller gave police a description of a silver Chrysler 300 that would be occupied by at least two men, the amount of suspected drugs to be sold, and other information.
Battles said in the affidavit that when he and Pine Bluff Police Department Sgt. Jason Howard approached the car, Rhodes dropped a total of $545 in cash in his lap, and the officers saw in plain view a clear bag containing a white powder that weighed 14.8 grams.
Because Rhodes is on parole, Pine Bluff District Judge John Kearney set a $10,000 cash only bond for him. A $50,000 secured bond was set for Thompson after ruling prosecutors have probable cause to charge both men with possession of a controlled substance with purpose to deliver.
Rhodes and Thompson said they would hire their own attorneys.