Drug Busts, Sob Stories, Arrests: Monroe DWI Checkpoint
By: Daisy O'Donnell
Updated: June 20, 2010
Cocaine, pills, marijuana—a roundup meant to nab drunk drivers turns up a big drug bust. Alert police officers arrested a man who was snorting cocaine at a DWI checkpoint in Monroe early Saturday morning.
Now police say, thousands of dollars in drugs are off the streets.
All it takes is a small army of police officers, a maze of traffic cones, and a busy street in north Monroe for a tipsy driver crackdown. No question about it—this is a DWI checkpoint.
But for rookie Monroe police officers who recently graduated the academy, this is a valuable training ground.
Detective Mark Johnson said, “We dedicated the first two weeks of their training, these new cadets, to the checkpoint. They get firsthand experience on how to work a DWI case.”
In this case, traffic stops are anything but routine. At times, the hunt for booze leads to the discovery of harder drugs.
Monroe Police arrested John Taylor of West Monroe that evening. Once vigilant officers spotted the cocaine in his work van, police say he tried to run, but didn’t get far.
“Here’s a guy driving a work van with an open plate of cocaine and pills and narcotics. A couple thousand dollars in drugs. And he’s driving down the road at the same time.”
Taylor was charged with possession of powder cocaine, possession with intent to distribute marijuana, possession of Lortabs, and possession of alcohol in a motor vehicle.
But every bit of experience freshmen officers reap from the veterans, means practice makes professional.
“We’re committed to getting impaired drivers off the road. When a cop hits the ground, He’s going to know how to work a DWI. We’re going get these people off the street,” said Johnson.
Johnson said over 500 people went through the checkpoint. Seven people were locked up for DWI, 14 were ticketed for open container violations.
Cocaine, pills, marijuana—a roundup meant to nab drunk drivers turns up a big drug bust. Alert police officers arrested a man who was snorting cocaine at a DWI checkpoint in Monroe early Saturday morning.
Now police say, thousands of dollars in drugs are off the streets.
All it takes is a small army of police officers, a maze of traffic cones, and a busy street in north Monroe for a tipsy driver crackdown. No question about it—this is a DWI checkpoint.
But for rookie Monroe police officers who recently graduated the academy, this is a valuable training ground.
Detective Mark Johnson said, “We dedicated the first two weeks of their training, these new cadets, to the checkpoint. They get firsthand experience on how to work a DWI case.”
In this case, traffic stops are anything but routine. At times, the hunt for booze leads to the discovery of harder drugs.
Monroe Police arrested John Taylor of West Monroe that evening. Once vigilant officers spotted the cocaine in his work van, police say he tried to run, but didn’t get far.
“Here’s a guy driving a work van with an open plate of cocaine and pills and narcotics. A couple thousand dollars in drugs. And he’s driving down the road at the same time.”
Taylor was charged with possession of powder cocaine, possession with intent to distribute marijuana, possession of Lortabs, and possession of alcohol in a motor vehicle.
But every bit of experience freshmen officers reap from the veterans, means practice makes professional.
“We’re committed to getting impaired drivers off the road. When a cop hits the ground, He’s going to know how to work a DWI. We’re going get these people off the street,” said Johnson.
Johnson said over 500 people went through the checkpoint. Seven people were locked up for DWI, 14 were ticketed for open container violations.
Cocaine, pills, marijuana—a roundup meant to nab drunk drivers turns up a big drug bust. Alert police officers arrested a man who was snorting cocaine at a DWI checkpoint in Monroe early Saturday morning.
Now police say, thousands of dollars in drugs are off the streets.
All it takes is a small army of police officers, a maze of traffic cones, and a busy street in north Monroe for a tipsy driver crackdown. No question about it—this is a DWI checkpoint.
But for rookie Monroe police officers who recently graduated the academy, this is a valuable training ground.
Detective Mark Johnson said, “We dedicated the first two weeks of their training, these new cadets, to the checkpoint. They get firsthand experience on how to work a DWI case.”
In this case, traffic stops are anything but routine. At times, the hunt for booze leads to the discovery of harder drugs.
Monroe Police arrested John Taylor of West Monroe that evening. Once vigilant officers spotted the cocaine in his work van, police say he tried to run, but didn’t get far.
“Here’s a guy driving a work van with an open plate of cocaine and pills and narcotics. A couple thousand dollars in drugs. And he’s driving down the road at the same time.”
Taylor was charged with possession of powder cocaine, possession with intent to distribute marijuana, possession of Lortabs, and possession of alcohol in a motor vehicle.
But every bit of experience freshmen officers reap from the veterans, means practice makes professional.
“We’re committed to getting impaired drivers off the road. When a cop hits the ground, He’s going to know how to work a DWI. We’re going get these people off the street,” said Johnson.
Johnson said over 500 people went through the checkpoint. Seven people were locked up for DWI, 14 were ticketed for open container violations.
Now police say, thousands of dollars in drugs are off the streets.
All it takes is a small army of police officers, a maze of traffic cones, and a busy street in north Monroe for a tipsy driver crackdown. No question about it—this is a DWI checkpoint.
But for rookie Monroe police officers who recently graduated the academy, this is a valuable training ground.
Detective Mark Johnson said, “We dedicated the first two weeks of their training, these new cadets, to the checkpoint. They get firsthand experience on how to work a DWI case.”
In this case, traffic stops are anything but routine. At times, the hunt for booze leads to the discovery of harder drugs.
Monroe Police arrested John Taylor of West Monroe that evening. Once vigilant officers spotted the cocaine in his work van, police say he tried to run, but didn’t get far.
“Here’s a guy driving a work van with an open plate of cocaine and pills and narcotics. A couple thousand dollars in drugs. And he’s driving down the road at the same time.”
Taylor was charged with possession of powder cocaine, possession with intent to distribute marijuana, possession of Lortabs, and possession of alcohol in a motor vehicle.
But every bit of experience freshmen officers reap from the veterans, means practice makes professional.
“We’re committed to getting impaired drivers off the road. When a cop hits the ground, He’s going to know how to work a DWI. We’re going get these people off the street,” said Johnson.
Johnson said over 500 people went through the checkpoint. Seven people were locked up for DWI, 14 were ticketed for open container violations.
Cocaine, pills, marijuana—a roundup meant to nab drunk drivers turns up a big drug bust. Alert police officers arrested a man who was snorting cocaine at a DWI checkpoint in Monroe early Saturday morning.
Now police say, thousands of dollars in drugs are off the streets.
All it takes is a small army of police officers, a maze of traffic cones, and a busy street in north Monroe for a tipsy driver crackdown. No question about it—this is a DWI checkpoint.
But for rookie Monroe police officers who recently graduated the academy, this is a valuable training ground.
Detective Mark Johnson said, “We dedicated the first two weeks of their training, these new cadets, to the checkpoint. They get firsthand experience on how to work a DWI case.”
In this case, traffic stops are anything but routine. At times, the hunt for booze leads to the discovery of harder drugs.
Monroe Police arrested John Taylor of West Monroe that evening. Once vigilant officers spotted the cocaine in his work van, police say he tried to run, but didn’t get far.
“Here’s a guy driving a work van with an open plate of cocaine and pills and narcotics. A couple thousand dollars in drugs. And he’s driving down the road at the same time.”
Taylor was charged with possession of powder cocaine, possession with intent to distribute marijuana, possession of Lortabs, and possession of alcohol in a motor vehicle.
But every bit of experience freshmen officers reap from the veterans, means practice makes professional.
“We’re committed to getting impaired drivers off the road. When a cop hits the ground, He’s going to know how to work a DWI. We’re going get these people off the street,” said Johnson.
Johnson said over 500 people went through the checkpoint. Seven people were locked up for DWI, 14 were ticketed for open container violations.
Cocaine, pills, marijuana—a roundup meant to nab drunk drivers turns up a big drug bust. Alert police officers arrested a man who was snorting cocaine at a DWI checkpoint in Monroe early Saturday morning.
Now police say, thousands of dollars in drugs are off the streets.
All it takes is a small army of police officers, a maze of traffic cones, and a busy street in north Monroe for a tipsy driver crackdown. No question about it—this is a DWI checkpoint.
But for rookie Monroe police officers who recently graduated the academy, this is a valuable training ground.
Detective Mark Johnson said, “We dedicated the first two weeks of their training, these new cadets, to the checkpoint. They get firsthand experience on how to work a DWI case.”
In this case, traffic stops are anything but routine. At times, the hunt for booze leads to the discovery of harder drugs.
Monroe Police arrested John Taylor of West Monroe that evening. Once vigilant officers spotted the cocaine in his work van, police say he tried to run, but didn’t get far.
“Here’s a guy driving a work van with an open plate of cocaine and pills and narcotics. A couple thousand dollars in drugs. And he’s driving down the road at the same time.”
Taylor was charged with possession of powder cocaine, possession with intent to distribute marijuana, possession of Lortabs, and possession of alcohol in a motor vehicle.
But every bit of experience freshmen officers reap from the veterans, means practice makes professional.
“We’re committed to getting impaired drivers off the road. When a cop hits the ground, He’s going to know how to work a DWI. We’re going get these people off the street,” said Johnson.
Johnson said over 500 people went through the checkpoint. Seven people were locked up for DWI, 14 were ticketed for open container violations.
