Chattanooga Pulse

• Another week, another bad driver, another major drug bust.  It’s just amazing how poorly drug dealers perform behind the wheel, as another drug arrest results from a routine traffic stop.  A Chattanooga police officer stopped a man for doing 67 mph in a 55 mph zone.  During the stop, the driver consented to a search of the vehicle, which resulted in the discovery of three baggies in different parts of the car.  The baggies contained a couple of different mixtures of methamphetamine, as well as a stash of hydrocodone pills. Once the driver was arrested, he also turned over yet another bag of meth that he had hidden in the crotch of his pants.

• When your own mother won’t come get you after you’re busted for shoplifting, you know you are not going to have a good day. Loss prevention officers at a large Brainerd retail store stopped two young men they had observed concealing various items in their clothes.  When the two tried to walk out of the store without paying for the items, valued at just over $100, they were stopped and police were called.  One man was given a citation and released into the custody of grandmother.  However, when the mother of the other young man was called to come pick him up, she refused.  So he ended up in the Juvenile Detention Center, where hopefully he learned a valuable lesson.

• Sometimes being nice just doesn’t pay.  A man was washing clothes in his apartment laundry room when he was approached by two women who asked if he could give them a ride.  He borrowed a friend’s pickup truck and drove the two women to Lattimore Street.  Once they arrived, one of the women borrowed his cell phone and walked to some nearby apartments.  However, while he was waiting for the woman to return, a pair of men came up, pulled a gun on him, and relieved him of his wallet and the keys to the truck.  To add insult to injury, the friend who owned the truck did not have a spare key, so he had to pay to have the pickup towed back to his own residence.

• Every so often, it’s a good idea to remind everyone not to leave anything valuable in your vehicle if you can help it.  A pair of roommates on Rosewood Drive found that someone had broken into their vehicles overnight.  Among the items stolen were three bottles of expensive cologne and a wallet containing a driver’s license, credit cards and several important papers. It’s also always a good idea if you do have something valuable inside that you lock your doors.  Otherwise, you could end up like a man on King Arthur Road, who discovered that someone had stolen his GPS unit out of his unlocked SUV.  Nearly every week there are police reports about thefts just like this, all of which could have been prevented (or at least lessened) with a simple application of common sense.