Suspected fentanyl pills and firearms were reportedly found during a State Highway 19 north traffic stop Sunday night.
Hopkins County Sheriff’s Office Deputies Ryan Reed and Sgt. Scott Davis reported stopping the gray Honda Accord with no license plate lights at 11:02 p.m. Jan. 15, 2023, on State Highway 19 north at FM 71. Upon contact with the California man driving, deputies asked him to step out of the car. When he exhibited signs of what deputies described as “deceptive behavior,” including being untruthful about having a criminal history, deputies asked permission to search the car.
When the 39-year-old Placentia, California man denied the request, advising he would prefer a K-9 conduct an olfactory sniff around the car, Deputy Colt Patterson was requested to bring his K-9 partner, Chiv, to the location. Patterson obliged the request, deploying Chiv to conduct an olfactory open air sniff around the car. Patterson reported Chiv alerted positive to the odor of narcotics inside the vehicle.
Deputies placed Nathanael Kenneth Cowie into handcuffs and performed a pat-down search. A semi automatic handgun was reportedly found on him. A search of the car allegedly yielded an “AK-47-style pistol and a 12-gauge shotgun,” numerous items of drug paraphernalia strewn throughout the car, as well as Narcan, a potentially lifesaving nasal spray medication that can revive someone who has overdosed on opioids. In the trunk, deputies reported finding a pill container with no label and unmarked white pills inside of it, deputies noted in arrest reports.
All items identified as contraband were seized and the car was impounded. Cowie was transported to Hopkins County jail along with the contraband at 11:42 p.m. Jan. 15, 2023. The latter was photographed, weighed and field-tested. The pills had a positive reaction leading deputies to suspect they were fentanyl pills or pills with traces of fentanyl in them. The suspected fentanyl weighed 21.2656 gram, deputies alleged in arrest reports.
As a result Cowie was booked into Hopkins County jail at 4:56 a.m. Jan. 16, 2023, on a second-degree felony possession of 4 grams or more but less than 200 grams of a Penalty Group 1/1-B controlled substance charge and a Class A misdemeanor unlawful carrying of a weapon charge, according to arrest reports.
Cowie remained in Hopkins County jail later Monday, Jan. 16, 2022, on both charges, Bond was set at $35,000 on the controlled substance charge and $2,000 on the weapon charge, according to jail reports.
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The Hopkins County Sheriff’s Office is located at 298 Rosemont Sulphur Springs, TX 75482. You can reach them for non-emergency matters at (903) 438-4040.
