Two Fort McCoy men who were tooling along in a 1930 Ford Model A the day after Christmas found themselves behind bars a short time later.
Marion County sheriff’s deputies stopped the antique vehicle late Thursday afternoon in the 11400 block of NE 105th Street in Fort McCoy because the vehicle’s driver, 48-year-old John Benjamin Fernandez, didn’t have a valid driver’s license.
During the traffic stop, a K-9 officer had his dog perform an open-air sniff and he alerted on the passenger side of the vehicle, indicating the likely presence of narcotics. The front-seat passenger, 32-year-old John Edward Piel, admitted that he had heroin in his right front pants pocket, a sheriff’s office report states.
A check of Piel’s pockets revealed a black zipper bag with a small plastic baggie containing a white powdery substance that field-tested positive for heroin, as well as a spoon, five unused syringes, a cut-up straw and four aspirins that were cut in half, the report says.
Both Fernandez and Piel were then taken into custody and transported to the Marion County Jail. Fernandez, who lives in the 16600 block of NE 141st Court in Fort McCoy, was charged with operating a motor vehicle with no valid driver’s license. He was being held with no bond and his next court date hasn’t yet been set.
Piel, who lives in the 15800 block of NE 147th Court in Fort McCoy, was charged with possession of heroin and drug paraphernalia. He was being held on $3,000 bond and is due in court Jan. 28 at 9 a.m. to answer to the charges.