By Pat Culverhouse

A Minden police officer turned a search for active arrest warrants into a drug arrest and a local man is now housed in the parish prison as a result.

Thaddeus Smith, 48, has been booked on charges of possession of CDS Sch. II (cocaine), possession of CDS Sch. ( (marijuana), possession of drug paraphernalia and resisting arrest after his Thursday arrest. He is also charged on a pair of outstanding bench warrants.

Chief of Police Jared McIver said while on patrol, Officer Cody James spotted Smith sitting on the porch of a residence in the 800 block of Carolina St. just after 9 p.m. A check with headquarters reportedly confirmed Smith was the subject of outstanding warrants.

When the officer approached the front porch, he reportedly observed a backpack with a bag of suspected marijuana sitting on top in front of the chair in which Smith was seated.

After reportedly ignoring multiple commands and attempting to pull away from the officer, Smith was taken into custody.

During a subsequent search of the backpack, a plastic bag was found inside containing a substance which Smith reportedly admitted was cocaine. Also inside the backpack officers found three glass pipes containing white residue, two packs of cigarillos and JOB rolling papers.

Smith is currently being held at Bayou Dorcheat Correctional Center on a $502 bond.

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.