SEBASTIAN — A 22-year-old man’s plan to hide a marijuana bag in his buttocks during a traffic stop to avoid arrest did not end well, police said.
Dondre M. Cypress, of the 100 block of Marsh Street, Sebastian, was charged with tampering with or destroying evidence, possession of less than 20 grams of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was released Wednesday from the Indian River County Jail on $6,000 bail.
Dondre Cypress
PHOTO CONTRIBUTED BY INDIAN RIVER COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE
Sebastian police conducted a traffic stop about 9 p.m. Tuesday on a car that was traveling 42 mph in a 30 mph zone in the 100 block of Admiral Circle. Police spoke with the driver, later identified as Cypress, who had a strong smell of marijuana coming from his car.
Police ordered Cypress out of the vehicle. When he got out, police searched Cypress and felt a bag in his groin area, where the marijuana smell grew stronger.
Police told Cypress to remove the bag. Cypress reached into his groin area, but then reached past his groin area to his buttocks, police said.
They told Cypress to take his hands out of his pants, placed him in handcuffs and then searched him again. Police tried to get the bag from the groin area, but it was no longer there.
When asked where the bag was, Cypress initially told them it was still in the car, but later admitted it was in his buttocks, police said.
Police also found two fully loaded magazines for a firearm and rolling papers in a backpack in the vehicle. Police detained Cypress, put him the back of a patrol car and took him to the jail.
While en route, Cypress removed the bag from his buttocks, tried to open it and dispose of it on the backseat of the patrol car, officers said. Police searched Cypress again, who had marijuana all over the back of his pants and left the bag on the backseat.
Cypress was taken to jail and has an arraignment at 8:30 a.m. Feb. 14 in court, court records show.
