FORTVILLE — A traffic stop to check on an obscured license plate number led to the arrest of a man on a felony drug charge.
Officers from the Fortville Police Department, with the help of the McCordsville Police Department and sheriff’s deputies, were able to discover the drugs in the man’s vehicle after a K9 officer alerted them.
Eric Donald Dover, 43, Fortville, has been charged with a Level 3 felony count of possession of methamphetamine in an amount of 28 grams or more, and a Class C misdemeanor count of possession of paraphernalia.
Police stopped Dover on Saturday, Feb. 22, in the 400 block of Monroe Street in Fortville. Dover, who exited the SUV he was driving, made his way to the porch of a nearby home and was reluctant to talk with police, a probable cause affidavit said.
Officers noticed Dover was in possession of two knives, as was a passenger in the vehicle. Police secured a total of three knives and ran a plate check on the SUV. While this was happening a K9, Mattis, who is part of the McCordsville Police Department, detected the scent of drugs around the SUV, the report said.
Officers searched the vehicle and discovered a plastic bag containing a crystalline substance as well as a glass pipe. The crystalline substance, which weighed 28.5 grams, and the pipe both field-tested positive for methamphetamine, the report stated.
Dover told officers the drugs were his and that he had obtained them in Indianapolis for his personal use, the report said.
Dover made an initial appearance on Tuesday, Feb. 25, in Hancock County Superior Court 1, where Judge Marie Castetter set a $10,000 cash bond and appointed a public defender. A pretrial conference has been set for late March.
