A South Carolina man allegedly walked away from a deputy who was searching his passenger during a traffic stop, but was found a short time later in a nearby pasture. Both he and the passenger were allegedly in possession of cocaine, deputies noted in arrest reports.
Hopkins County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Isaac Foley at 9:43 p.m. Feb. 20, 2022, conducted a traffic stop on a Honda Hybrid car for traveling in the turn lane. Instead of pulling over on the side of the road, the driver stopped the car in the middle of the turn lane on State Highway 1554 south near County Road 2174. The deputy instructed the driver to safely exit the road and pull onto the shoulder. He reportedly did as requested.
The passenger was identified as William Fenton. The story he and the driver gave did not make any sense to the deputy, When both refused the deputy’s request to search the car, he asked them to step out of the car to talk to him. While the deputy patted Fenton down, he advised he did not give his permission to check for weapons. The passenger agreed to pull out his pockets, and began doing so, allowing the deputy to see a bag in his pocket.
The driver, however, wouldn’t allow the deputy to search him nor did he agree to pull out his pockets. In fact, the driver walked away from the deputy, talking on his cell phone as he did so, the deputy alleged in arrest reports. Suspecting the bag in the passenger’s pocket contained illegal contraband, the deputy opted to remain at the location with Fenton instead of chasing after the driver. He did, however, notify other deputies that the driver had fled on foot before he could get ID from him.
While talking to Fenton, the 40-year-old man admitted to having something illegal in his pocket. Foley had Fenton remove the item from his pocket and put it on the hood of the officer’s patrol vehicle. It turned out to be two Ziploc-style bags containing a white substance suspected to be cocaine.
Meanwhile, HCSO Deputies Drew Fisher, Zack Horne and Sgt. Tanner Steward had arrived in the area, located and took the driver into custody in a pasture off CR 2174. While taking the driver into custody, deputies alleged seeing two baggies containing a white substance suspected to be cocaine in a towel.
Both Fenton and the driver, identified in arrest reports as a 35-year-old Henry Lee Woods Jr. of Kingstree, South Carolina, were taken into custody at 10:06 p.m. Feb. 20 and transported to the county jail. The substance found near Henry tested positive for cocaine and weighed 2.41 grams, including packaging. The substance removed from Fenton’s pocket also field-tested positive for cocaine; it weighed 2.897 grams, including packaging.
Consequently, both Fenton and Woods were booked into the county jail at 12:25 a.m. Feb. 21, 2022, on a a possession of 1 gram or more but less than 4 grams of a Penalty Group 1 controlled substance charge. Woods also was charged with attempted tampering with physical evidence and evading arrest or detention. Both remained in the county jail Monday, Feb. 21, 2022. Bond was set at $25,000 each on the controlled substance charges. Woods’ bond was also set at $10,000 on the tampering charge and $2,000 on the evading arrest or detention 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.
