Man's snooze behind wheel results in drug trafficking arrest - East Idaho News
Crime Watch

Man’s snooze behind wheel results in drug trafficking arrest

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IDAHO FALLS — A 43-year-old Portland man who fell asleep at the wheel during a green light was charged after a police officer checking on him allegedly found bags of drugs in the vehicle.

On Friday at 10:25 p.m., an officer responded to a call that a man was passed out in his vehicle in the turn lane at the intersection of Holmes Avenue and Northgate Mile, according to the affidavit of probable cause filed by Idaho Falls Police.

The reporting party identified a gray truck that did not move when the light turned green. When the officer got to the intersection, the officer saw a man slumped over in the vehicle.

The officer knocked on the window, and the man, later identified as Frankie Goulding, woke up. The officer told him that he was passed out on the road, and Goulding denied it and said he was just stopped at the light, documents said. The officer asked if he had any medical condition or if there was any reason for him to be passed out.

Goulding said he did not have a medical condition and did not know why he would have passed out there, court documents said. EMS arrived and determined he was not in immediate medical distress.

The officer saw a glass pipe and burnt residue in the center console of the vehicle. The officer asked for Goulding’s driver’s license, but he said he didn’t have it. He verbally identified himself and provided the name “John Howard,” police said. He appeared nervous and started to look at the center console.

drug arrest at green light
Police look into Goulding’s vehicle. | Courtesy Stephan Rockefeller

The officer asked him to step out of the vehicle, searched him and found his wallet. Inside was an Oregon driver’s license with his real name on it.

Goulding also had a small red scale on him and an unmarked white pill bottle with over 100 large round white pills inside with “M” stamped on one side and “3” on the other, police said.

Officers tried to identify the pills and believed they could have been Tylenol and codeine.

During the search of the vehicle, police found various bags and substances, including a white crystal-like substance that weighed 162.35 grams and one large chunk of a white crystal-like substance.

The substances were tested and found to be presumptive positive for methamphetamine and cocaine.

Goulding is facing four charges: felony drug trafficking, felony possession of a controlled substance, misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia, and misdemeanor providing false information on own identity.

His bond was set at $100,000, and he appeared in court earlier this week. He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on March 31 at 1 p.m. at the Bonneville County Courthouse.

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