Beeville Police Department Staff Sgt. Richard Cantu said the arrest came shortly after 11:28 a.m. when someone in a pickup truck flagged down Sgt. Stephen Phipps in the 100 block of North Adams Street.
Phipps said the occupants of the pickup told him that a white sedan in the same block had been involved in a hit-and-run accident the previous day.
Phipps then stopped the vehicle and asked the driver, 21-year-old Eddie Rendon, to step out of the car.
The officer said Rendon denied driving the car Saturday but he did admit that he had no insurance on the vehicle. He said he had bought the car only two weeks earlier.
Phipps said he patted down the driver and found $444 in cash stuffed in his front pocket. As he stepped to the rear of the vehicle to turn on the video camera of his patrol car, Rendon told the officer he had marijuana in the trunk.
The officer opened the trunk and was shown a white bag that contained six, smaller baggies of a green, leafy substance.
Rendon said he had recently bought the marijuana and that he intended it for his personal use. But Phipps said he was unable to find any pipes or papers in the vehicle to substantiate that claim.
Rendon and his passenger, 19-year-old Genoveva Gomez, were both taken to the Bee County Jail where they were booked on charges of delivery of marijuana, more than one-quarter ounce but less than five pounds. Rendon also was charged with driving without proof of insurance.
Cantu said the offense is a state jail felony. If convicted the suspects could face anywhere from six months to two years in a state jail facility and a fine of as much as $10,000.
Municipal Judge Joe Salinas set bond at $2,500 for Gomez and at $5,000 for Rendon. Salinas also set a $400 public recognizance bond on Rendon on the charge of driving without proof of insurance.
Gomez was later released on bond but a spokesperson at the Bee County Jail said Rendon was still in custody Tuesday evening.
Post a Comment
