An officer routinely patrolling a motel parking lot has led to the arrest of a man on auto theft and drug charges.
According to a police report, the officer was patrolling the 4As Inn on Ringgold Road, Saturday, when he saw a black Toyota parked on the east side of the lot. The officer ran the tag on the vehicle and it came back as stolen out of Huntsville, Alabama. The report states the car was parked in front of room 173. When the officer knocked on the door he was greeted by a man in his boxers who identified himself as Ruben Zamora. The report states that the officer advised Zamora to first put on some pants and then return for a conversation.
When Zamora turned from the door, the report states that the officer saw a syringe on a table that Zamora grabbed as he passed. The man attempted to put the syringe in a backpack but the officer stopped him. The report states that the officer then entered the room where he saw “another syringe and a pile of a white, crystalline substance consistent with the appearance of crystal methamphetamine on the table.”
The report states that Zamora was detained. When asked about the car, Zamora told police that he got it from a woman named “Terry.” The report states that Zamora told police that the methamphetamine was his. When officers searched the Toyota, they found a .20-gauge shotgun inside with a shell in the barrel.
The report states that a total of 10 syringes were found inside the motel room, four of which were loaded with “unknown liquids.”
Two women who were in the room with Zamora were arrested on outstanding warrants. Zamora also had verified warrants out of Catoosa County for drug charges and DUI. Further inquiries into the man’s criminal background showed he was convicted of Felony Possession of Schedule II Controlled Substance in Georgia in 2015.
Zamora, 27, of a Bork Memorial Drive address in Ooltewah, was charged with Theft over $10,000, Simple Possession of Methamphetamine, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia and Felony Possession of a Firearm. The report states that police will seek to file an additional charge against Zamora, after discovering additional drugs and paraphernalia in his backpack during an inventory at ERPD headquarters.
Zamora is due to appear in East Ridge Municipal Court on Tuesday.
_ 5601 Stateline Rd.: Police were called to the address on Friday afternoon in regard to a “deceptive practices” call. According to a police report, the victim told officers she was defrauded by an unknown person for $985, via telephone. The victim told police she came home earlier that afternoon and there was a message on her landline telephone from a man identifying himself as Lt. Brad Jordan” of the “HCSO Warrants and Records Division.” The woman called the number back and “Lt. Jordan” told her that she had failed to appear for jury duty on March 21 and there was a bench warrant out for her arrest.
“Lt. Jordan” told the victim that this could be handled if she would pay $1,000 over the phone by loading money onto Green Dot Money Pak cards and giving the card numbers to the “officer.” The caller asked the victim to stay on the phone with her as she drove to the store to purchase the cards. The victim told police that after she gave the card information to “Lt. Jordan” he requested she pay another $1,000.
However, by this time the victim, with the help of a friend, had contacted Hamilton County Dispatch who advised the woman that the whole enterprise was fraudulent.
The report states that while the victim was on the phone with “Lt. Jordan,” he verified her home address. The victim’s residence was placed on the watch list, the report states.
_ Early Saturday morning an East Ridge police officer returned to his apartment after getting off duty and caught a whiff of burning marijuana. According to a police report, Officer Allison made his way to the apartment downstairs that he believed was the origin of the odor. When the officer knocked on the door, a woman answered and Officer Allison heard a sliding glass door open on the back side of the apartment unit and someone take off running.
According to the report, Officer Allison caught up to the subject who ran out the back door and placed the man in handcuffs to detain him. The report states that he asked the man, later identified as Roland Darden, why he took off and he told the officer that he had pot in his bag and that he had been smoking pot inside the apartment. According to the report, while Officer Allison was getting information on the woman who opened the door, Darden told the officer that he also had cocaine in his bag.
After getting consent to search Darden’s bag, Officer Allison found three grams of marijuana and .6 grams of cocaine. Darden, 28, of a Dodson Avenue address, was subsequently arrested and charged with Possession of Cocaine and Possession of Marijuana.
