By Pat Culverhouse

What began as a traffic stop for failure to signal a turn has landed a Minden man in the parish jail on charges of DWI and possession of illegal narcotics.

Tevin Lovar Turner, 33, is being held under a $1,000 bond at Bayou Dorcheat Correctional Center under charges of  DWI first offense, possession of CDS Sch. II (methamphetamines), possession of CDS Sch. I (marijuana), possession of drug paraphernalia and no turn signal.

Turner reportedly was stopped in the early morning hours Saturday by a Louisiana State Police trooper after he failed to properly signal a turn off Sheppard St. onto Martin Luther King Dr.

During questioning, the trooper reportedly smelled the odor of marijuana on Turner’s person and observed him repeatedly moving his hands in the area of his waistband. While performing a safety pat-down, the trooper reportedly noticed bulges in his front pockets.

After reportedly receiving permission to retrieve items inside the pockets, the trooper found a sock containing a glass pipe commonly used to smoke methamphetamines and a small clear plastic baggie containing a white, crystal substance in one pocket.

Inside the suspect’s other pocket, the trooper reportedly discovered a clear baggie with 19 unmarked blue pills which tested positive for methamphetamine. Inside a laptop bag in the rear seat of the vehicle, the trooper reportedly found a small amount of natural marijuana.

During questioning, Turner reportedly admitted to drinking and smoking marijuana prior to the traffic stop.

Approximately 1.6 grams of methamphetamines and approximately 28 grams of natural marijuana were seized.

This information has been provided by a law enforcement agency as public information. Persons named as suspects in a criminal investigation, or arrested and charged with a crime, have not been convicted of any criminal offense and are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.