ROCKINGHAM — A traffic stop following a near-collision resulted in deputies from the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office filing drug and weapons charges against a passenger.
According to a press release issued Thursday, Deputies R.C. Smith and R. Spivey were patrolling the East Rockingham area on Tuesday when they witnessed one vehicle almost hit another head-on on Mill Road.
The deputies turned around to try and locate the vehicle, which had pulled onto a street off of Mill Road and into a driveway. After the deputies passed, the vehicle pulled out and headed back toward Mill Road, according to the press release.
Smith and Spivey eventually caught up with the vehicle and conducted a traffic stop at a convenience store, the press release states.
While walking up to the vehicle, the deputies reportedly “detected a strong odor of marijuana coming from inside the vehicle.”
The driver, who is not identified in the press release, was cited and released after deputies reportedly found that he had no insurance and his license was revoked.
The passenger, however, wasn’t as lucky.
According to the sheriff’s office, 29-year-old Gerond Junior Bostic, of Rockingham, was found with a Taurus 9mm handgun reported stolen in Anson County, 2.2 grams of suspected cocaine, 15.8 grams of suspected marijuana and $406 in U.S. currency.
Bostic was arrested and charged with one felony count each of: possession of a stolen firearm; possession of a firearm by a felon; possession with intent to manufacture, sell or deliver a Schedule II controlled substance; and possession with intent to manufacture, sell or deliver a Schedule VI controlled substance.
He was also charged with a misdemeanor count of possession of drug paraphernalia.
Bostic was booked into the Richmond County Jail under a $25,000 secured bond, where he remained Thursday. He is scheduled to appear in court on those charges Dec. 9.
Jail records show Bostic also has a $1,000 cash bond for a charge of failing to appear in court on a misdemeanor.
Online court records show no other pending charges.
Records with the N.C. Department of Public Safety Division of Adult Correction show Bostic has several prior felony convictions.
In 2013, Bostic was convicted in Richmond County on three counts of felony breaking and entering. Four years later he was given probation for larceny after breaking and entering and served six days for breaking and entering in Cumberland County.
On the day his parole was scheduled to end — Jan. 18, 2020 — records show Bostic was incarcerated for six months on a post-release revocation. During that time, he was convicted in Richmond County of selling a Schedule VI controlled substance.
Records show Bostic was released from prison Oct. 22, 2020 and his parole ended July 19 of this year.
All defendants facing criminal charges are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
