CALEDONIA – A Milwaukee man was accused of hiding a bag of marijuana in the coat of a 2-year-old child after a traffic stop incident here last Friday.
The Racine County District Attorney’s Office charged Byron Preston Reeves, 36, of Milwaukee, with possession of THC (marijuana) – 2nd offense and neglecting a child. According to online court records, he made an initial appearance on Tuesday where a signature bond was set at $500. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Feb. 17 at the Racine County Law Enforcement Center.
According to the criminal complaint, Caledonia Police stopped a southbound car on Douglas Avenue just south of the Milwaukee County line after the officer observed that it had no license plates.
The officer observed that the passenger, later identified as Reeves, was holding a small child on his lap. The officer also detected an odor of marijuana in the car. Reeves told the officer that the 2-year-old child was crying, so he brought her to the front seat to check her diaper.
While the officer was checking electronic records of the driver, a woman identified in the complaint as “D.C.” and Reeves, he observed Reeves reaching back into the rear passenger area and place the child into her child car seat. Two other children, ages 9 and 4, were also in the back seat.
When officers asked Reeves if there was marijuana in the car, he initially stated that there were some small marijuana “roaches” from him and D.C. smoking earlier in the day. When asked again, Reeves stated that D.C. had thrown a bag of marijuana in the back seat.
Officers had D.C. remove the children from the car, so officers could conduct a better search of the back seat area. When the 2-year-old child was taken out of the car, the officer searched the small pockets in the child’s jacket. A sandwich bag containing a green leafy substance – that later tested positive for 2.8 grams of THC (marijuana) – was found in the right front pocket.
Reeves denied hiding the marijuana in the child’s coat pocket, but the officer stated that D.C. was not observed making any movements toward the back seat during the traffic stop.
In separate interviews with police, D.C. and Reeves confirmed that they and their three children had been living at the TravelLodge on Northwestern Avenue. Last Friday morning, they had smoked marijuana in the car and drove to Milwaukee where they visited a vehicle tow lot and Reeves later purchased marijuana. They were returning to Racine when they were stopped by Caledonia police.
