Car alarm alerts Aberdeen officer to hostile drug user

An Aberdeen Police officer was patrolling the area of Heron and H streets just after 2 a.m. Wednesday when she heard a car alarm going off, leading her to a car parked at the Canton Restaurant with its headlights flashing. She found a man who was bent over and appeared to be doing something under the steering wheel.

According to police, the man said the vehicle did not belong to him but he had permission from a friend to stay in it. The man claimed he didn’t have any identification and said his last name was Lee. The officer called in the name as backup arrived, and it was discovered the man had lied about his name.

Police say he became hostile and shouted insults at the officers as he was placed under arrest for making false statements. Officers discovered the man’s real name and found he had a Department of Corrections felony warrant. Once the suspect was secured, officers located a capped syringe, alcohol pad, some plastic wrapping with a brown residue and two cell phones. The vehicle’s registered owner was contacted and arrived at the scene, telling officers he had given permission to sleep in his car to a homeless woman, but not the suspect, whom he did not know.

The vehicle owner gave officers permission to collect the drug paraphernalia and cell phones from the car. Officers also located a backpack believed to belong to the suspect and found it contained another syringe and a small plastic baggy containing a cotton swab. The items were placed into evidence and the suspect was booked into the Aberdeen jail for making a false statement and possession of drug paraphernalia.