Staff Report
The Landis police officer arrived at the Rowan County Magistrate’s Office early Sunday morning with a young man in custody.
Officer R. Hosey handed Magistrate Fred Moore a rolled up piece of pink paper, the kind officers give any motorist caught speeding.
“I thought, ‘Is he trying to pay a ticket?’ ” Moore said later Sunday.
Then, as Moore watched, Hosey unrolled the pink slip, releasing crumpled marijuana leaves inside.
According to charging documents, Hosey stopped Hugo Alberto Rodriguez Patricio, 17, on South Chapel Street in Landis at 11:59 p.m. Saturday.
According to Hosey, Patricio, of 2322 N. Cherry St., Apt. C, Winston-Salem, had no operator’s license and a fictitious registration card.
During a routine search, Hosey found the marijuana rolled in a pink “N.C. Uniform Citation” form and some “cigar tubes, with cigars gutted to create marijuana cigars.”
Moore said Patricio got the pink traffic citation in another county.
Hosey charged Patricio with possession of drug paraphernalia and marijuana, in addition to the traffic violations. Moore set Patricio’s bond at $500.