CORDOVA — A man currently on parole is facing drug and weapons charges following the investigation of a “suspicious vehicle.”
According to the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded Saturday to a call about a truck parked in front of an abandoned building on Third Street in Cordova.
The first deputy to arrive reportedly saw two men in the truck who allegedly appeared to be reaching under the seat to conceal something.
The driver was identified as 36-year-old Roger Dail Ricks Jr. and the passenger as 37-year-old Brian Keith Dixon II, both of Cordova.
The deputy reportedly saw an open container of alcohol and asked the men why they were parked at the building. Both men allegedly gave reasons and told the deputy there was nothing illegal in the truck.
Dixon eventually admitted there was a firearm in the glovebox, according to the sheriff’s office.
Ricks allegedly reached toward the glovebox and the deputy reportedly told him multiple times not to open it.
Both men were removed from the truck and deputies reportedly found a Smith & Wesson 9mm handgun in the glovebox and an unspecified quantity of methamphetamine under the seat where Dixon was sitting.
Ricks was cited for the alleged open container violation and carrying a concealed firearm and was released.
Dixon was charged with possession of a firearm by a felon and possession of methamphetamine. He was booked into the Richmond County Jail where he remained Wednesday under a $25,000 secured bond.
Neither man appears to have any pending charges.
Records with the N.C. Department of Public Safety Division of Adult Correction show Dixon is still on parole until October.
Dixon was just released from prison on Jan. 7 after serving nearly nine months after his probation was revoked on a 2019 conviction of felony breaking and entering and receiving stolen goods, and a 2020 conviction of obtaining property by false pretenses.
Records show Dixon has multiple criminal convictions dating back nearly 20 years.
In 2004, Dixon was convicted of possession of a Schedule II controlled substance, possession of a Schedule IV controlled substance (both labeled as misdemeanors); and of misdemeanor larceny in 2008.
Dixon was given probation in 2010 on two counts of driving with a revoked license. However, the probation on one of those counts was revoked the following year when he was convicted on three counts of felony larceny and one count of obtaining property by false pretenses, resulting in a seven-month incarceration.
In 2014, Dixon was convicted of assault on a female.
Dixon was convicted in 2016 of common law robbery. His probation was revoked two months later and he spent the next 10 months behind bars.
Ricks’ only convictions were in 2008 for operating a vehicle without a license and driving under the age of 21 after consuming a controlled substance.
All defendants facing criminal charges are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
