By Shavonne Walker

shavonne.walker@salisburypost.com

SALISBURY — Rowan authorities charged two men with cocaine, methamphetiamine and marijuana possession after discovering the driver had an expired license plate. A deputy was traveling Wednesday near Rowan Gun and Pawn we he saw the vehicle enter the parking lot.

The driver of the vehicle then left the business, got behind the patrol vehicle, made a U-turn and headed onto U.S. 52 toward Salisbury.

The driver, later identified as Zachary (Zachery) Brian Williams, was pulled over. The deputy smelled marijuana coming from the vehicle while talking to the driver. He asked if there was marijuana in the vehicle, which Williams denied, but he admitted to a couple of hand-rolled cigarettes.

The deputy asked Williams to step out of the vehicle, which he did. Williams told the deputy they were headed to a pawn shop so his passenger Samuel Tyler Yost, 18, could pawn some items — a computer monitor, keyboard, head phones and a large knife. He again told the deputy there were no illegal drugs in the car and he did not use marijuana.

Williams gave the officer permission to search the vehicle. Yost was found to have a pair of brass knuckles in his pants pocket. Sitting in a bag beside Yost was a cell phone box with a plastic bag in it that had four gold candy wrappers that smelled like marijuana. The bag also had rolling papers, plastic baggies, rubber bands and digital scales wrapped in a blue bandanna.

Some of the candy wrappers contained loose tobacco and rubber bands, while the other wrappers contained a small amount of marijuana, and a white powdery substance that tested positive for cocaine. A clear crystal substance found tested positive for methamphetamine.

The deputy confiscated cocaine, marijuana, a substance that tested positive for meth, a used syringe, digital scales and brass knuckles.

Williams, 18, was charged with felony possession of schedule II controlled substance, misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia and misdemeanor possession of marijuana. Yost was charged with possession of a schedule II controlled substance, misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia and carrying a concealed weapon.

Williams claimed the candy wrappers were his as was the marijuana and related paraphernalia. He denied the syringe belonged to him. A third passenger, a 16-year-old female denied anything in the car belonged to her. She was released into the custody of her aunt.

Both men remain in the Rowan County Detention Center under a $2,500 secured bond.