ROCKINGHAM — Two traffic stops this week have resulted in drug busts by the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office.
According to one RCSO Facebook post, one deputy patrolling Aug. 3 around Midway Road noticed a vehicle with non-working brake lights.
The deputy then reportedly conducted a traffic stop at the on-ramp for U.S. 220.
According to the post, the deputy “developed suspicions” while talking to the driver, 46-year-old Tanya Begail Clarke of Lilesville, and asked for — and was subsequently granted — permission to search the vehicle.
The deputy reportedly found 0.6 grams of heroin, a half-gram of cocaine, one oxycodone pill and a straw.
Clarke was arrested and charged with one felony count each of possession of heroin and possession of a Schedule II controlled substance, as well as one misdemeanor count of possession of drug paraphernalia.
On Aug. 4, deputies responded to a call about a car running off the road. One deputy pulled over the vehicle that had been described.
The driver, 36-year-old Brandy Nicole Grooms of Rockingham, reportedly gave permission for a search of the vehicle.
Deputies reportedly found 3 grams of meth, a gram of suspected fentanyl and a marijuana cigarette.
Grooms was arrested and charged with two felony counts of possession of a Schedule II controlled substance and possession of up to a half-ounce of marijuana.
Both Clarke and Grooms were released by the magistrate — Clarke on a $1,000 unsecured bond, Grooms on a written promise to appear in court.
Clarke is scheduled to appear in court Aug. 18. She has no other pending charges or previous criminal convictions in North Carolina, online records show.
Grooms, who has no other pending charges, was convicted of driving while impaired in 2015 and 2019, according to records with the N.C. Department of Public Safety Division of Adult Correction. She was also twice convicted of driving with a revoked license in 2018.
All defendants facing criminal charges are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
