A simple traffic stop for speeding in Bunnell on Monday quickly became a more serious encounter when the suspects were found to have narcotics and stolen IDs on them, according to a report from the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office. 33-year-old Jerry Price and 23-year-old Nikia Rogers are both in custody at the county jail on several felony and misdemeanor charges.
The incident reportedly began when a deputy pulled over Price and Rogers’ vehicle for speeding. The deputy said as he walked up, he saw the vehicle wobbling from movement inside, and saw what looked like a man shoving things under the passenger seat. He radioed for backup and walked up to the driver’s side window. That was when the stop first became unusual.
Finding Drugs and Guns
According to the FCSO’s account of the incident, there was no one sitting in the driver’s seat when the deputy reached the vehicle. He asked the three people inside which of them had been driving, and one man in the back seat reportedly said it was the woman next to him, also in the back seat. The deputy of course asked why she’d moved back, and she reportedly told him that she had a suspended driver’s license out of Georgia and was scared of what may happen.
At this point, a probable cause search was conducted of the vehicle yielding multiple illegal drugs, the FCSO says. A black duffel bag was found in the back seat which reportedly contained ten grams of cocaine, oxycodone pills, bags with residue of cannabis, and multiple different prescription drugs. Additionally, the deputy found two guns, with one of them coming up as stolen.
Alleged Fugitive Jerry Price
The now-multiple deputies on-scene interviewed the three occupants of the vehicle about the nature of their alleged illegal possessions. Jerry Price told deputies he didn’t have his driver’s license, the report says, and he instead verbally told deputies his name and date of birth. The details given did not appear to match up, leading deputies to further investigate and later identify Price by his true information, pinning him as a formerly convicted felon from Atlanta with multiple non-extraditable arrest warrants in Georgia. He reportedly confessed to providing false information to deputies out of fear.
In searching for an ID for Price, deputies claimed to have found eight fake cards with differing names. These included two social security cards, two Georgia driver’s licenses, two debit cards, a wholesale club card, and a Utah driver’s license. He was arrested and charged with four felonies: being a fugitive from justice, cocaine possession, possession of a weapon by an other-state delinquent, forged identification, and knowing possession of five or more illegal IDs. He was also charged with four misdemeanors: two counts of possession of a harmful drug without a prescription, controlled substance possession, and giving a false name or identification to law enforcement. He is being held without bond while he awaits extradition by the Atlanta Police Department.
Drug Possession and No Valid License
The vehicle’s driver was determined by deputies to be Nikia Rogers. A resident of Hampton, Georgia, she reportedly admitted to deputies that she was driving with a suspended license. Deputies searched her purse and claimed to have found a stolen credit card. Rogers was arrested on the scene on three misdemeanor charges: driving with a suspended license, obstruction of justice, and knowing possession of four or fewer illegal IDs.
While being transported to the county jail, Rogers’ situation became worse. According to the FCSO, she told deputies that she didn’t have any drugs on her person. Upon arriving at the jail to be booked, she was allegedly found to have marijuana, leading her to be charged with felony smuggling of controlled substances and misdemeanor marijuana possession under 20 grams. Her bond was set at $4,000.
