Two South Carolina men were arrested on drug charges on June 4 following a traffic stop conducted by Greene County deputy Lt. Patrick Paquette on I-20.
James Alford Taylor Jr., 37, of 354 Sea Island Pkwy., Beaufort, and Ishmael Rivers, 26, of 17 Old Country Dr., Beaufort, are charged with trafficking cocaine.
Rivers also faces an obstruction charge. Paquette later learned that Rivers was wanted by the FBI in Columbia, S.C., on kidnapping and firearm charges.
According to the report, Paquette pulled over a Dodge Ram truck traveling eastbound near milepost 142 because the vehicle had dark-tinted windows.
When Paquette approached the vehicle on the passenger’s side to make contact with its occupants, he immediately smelled the odor of marijuana coming from within the vehicle, according to the report.
Rivers, who was driving the truck, stated that the vehicle was a company vehicle registered in his mother's name.
Paquette tested the window tint with his tint meter, and it registered 11%, far below the established minimum of 32%.
When Paquette instructed Rivers to step out of the vehicle so he could explain the reason for the stop and the test results to him, Rivers said he would rather not step out of the vehicle.
Paquette explained that case law required him to step out of the vehicle if requested to do so by a law enforcement officer.
According to Paquette, the passenger, later identified as Taylor, appeared to be overly nervous, refusing to make eye contact with Paquette while staring straight ahead.
Paquette noticed Taylor’s carotid artery was visibly pulsing uncontrollably underneath his skin.
When Rivers exited the vehicle, Paquette told him to leave his cell phone and wallet in the truck, but Rivers grabbed his cell phone off the center console as he was getting out and then stopped inside the driver’s side door.
Paquette opened the passenger side door and again instructed Rivers to step to the back of the truck. He complied, but with his cell phone still in his hand.
Sgt. Eli Franks arrived on the scene and met Rivers at the back of the truck.
Paquette then turned his attention to Taylor and told him to step out of the vehicle and put his hands on the truck, so Paquette could conduct a pat-down for weapons.
At that point, Paquette retrieved a black plastic bag from Taylor’s waistband containing a clear, gallon-size Ziploc-style bag with a powdery substance that appeared to be cocaine in it.
Taylor and Rivers were placed under arrest and transported to jail by Franks.