HAMLET — Police reportedly found meth on a man who was driving a stolen vehicle during a traffic stop earlier this week.
According to the Hamlet Police Department, 48-year-old Jasper Lynn Knight, of Rockingham, was pulled over April 18 in a vehicle that was reported stolen out of East Rockingham. Knight was also allegedly pulling a stolen trailer.
Police reportedly found a stolen gun and an unspecified amount of methamphetamine.
Knight was booked into the Richmond County Jail where he is being held on felony charges of possession of or receiving stolen goods and possession of methamphetamine, as well as a misdemeanor charge of possession of drug paraphernalia.
Jail records show Knight is also charged with a parole violation.
Records with the N.C. Department of Public Safety Division of Adult Correction show Knight was just released on April 8 after serving two months when his probation was revoked from a 2020 conviction of possession of a Schedule II controlled substance. (He was also convicted that year of driving while impaired.)
Knight is being held without bond on the parole violation and a $10,000 secured bond on the criminal charges. Police say additional charges may be pending. He is scheduled to appear in court April 28.
Most of Knight’s early convictions were traffic related, records show.
He was convicted of driving with a revoked license in 1991 and twice in 1993 — once with a safety inspection violation.
In 1997, Knight was convicted of driving with a revoked license, driving while impaired and resisting a public officer. His probation was revoked in 1999 — and a vehicle registration violation was added — landing him behind bars for nearly five months.
Knight was then convicted on a DWI in 2000, assault on a female in 2001, and injury to personal property in 2002. His probation on the DWI was revoked in 2003, resulting in a nearly four-month incarceration.
Records show Knight was given probation on a 2006 conviction of possession of a Schedule II controlled substance, which was revoked the following year, for which he served nearly five months.
His last conviction prior to 2020 was for driving with a revoked license in 2010.
All defendants facing criminal charges are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
