Man awaiting trial in two states charged with trafficking meth

Published 11:24 am Tuesday, April 24, 2018

SALISBURY — A Rowan County man awaiting trial in both North Carolina and South Carolina on methamphetamine charges has been arrested again, local authorities said.

On Friday, the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office and the State Bureau of Investigation made a traffic stop of a gold 2013 Ford Explorer occupied by three people at the intersection of Shue Road and Haven Trail in China Grove.

The vehicle was pulling a Jet Ski trailer with a Georgia registration.

Officials said at the time of the stop, the Sheriff’s Office had already obtained a search warrant for Charles Stanley Bangert Jr. — also known as Stosh — who was a rear-seat passenger in the vehicle.

Bangert, 38, was charged with felony trafficking in methamphetamine and jailed under a $500,000 secured bond.

When Bangert was removed from the vehicle, he resisted deputies and was immediately subdued, officials said.

Bangert tried to reach into his waistband, where officers discovered 6.5 ounces of meth in a plastic bag in his pants.

Officials were aided in the investigation by a drug-detection dog.

One of the other occupants of the car was found in possession of meth, and drug paraphernalia was found in the vehicle, authorities said.

Bangert and the other people in the SUV had traveled to Georgia, where Bangert obtained the meth, officials said.

At the time of his arrest, Bangert was free on bond in Cherokee County, South Carolina, after a traffic stop on Nov. 30, 2016, in which he was found in possession of 4 ounces of methamphetamine.

Additionally, on April 3, the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office Patrol Division responded to a suspicious vehicle call at 725 Lillian Circle. When deputies arrived at the Salisbury residence, a Nissan 350Z was sitting in the driveway with its headlights on.

A deputy who approached saw two people asleep in the front seats. The driver was identified as Bangert. The deputy said he saw a plastic bag lying between the sleeping driver’s arm and abdomen and suspected it contained meth.

After the occupants were awakened, the deputy asked the driver if he had any illegal narcotics and was told no. The deputy pointed out the bag near Bangert, and officials said he acted as though he did not know what the deputy was talking about.

When Bangert got out of the vehicle, the deputy saw a plastic bag containing 10 grams of marijuana lying on the driver’s seat. When Bangert was searched, $2,250 in cash was found in his shirt pocket, authorities said.

A deputy also found drug paraphernalia, a small amount of suspected meth and 1 gram of heroin in a search of the vehicle.

Bangert was charged with possession with intent to sell or deliver methamphetamine, possession with intent to sell or deliver marijuana, felony possession of heroin, and possession of drug paraphernalia. Bangert posted a secured bond of $15,000.

Bangert has criminal records in four states — North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Virginia. He has previous felony convictions in Rowan County for larceny, injury to property, breaking and entering, and possession of a methamphetamine precursor.