
A deputy with the Marshall County Sheriff’s Department arrested an erratic moped driver just before midnight Wednesday.
1st/Sgt. Nick Laffoon was on routine patrol and conducted a traffic stop on a moped that was driving erratically on Michigan Road near Custer Drive, north of Plymouth.
During the investigation, probable cause was established that the scooter driver was intoxicated with a suspected controlled substance. It was also determined that the vehicle being operated was a motor scooter suspected of being improperly registered as a Class B motor-driven cycle.
The offender, 49-year-old Preston A. Hensley of the Gatewood Mobile Home Park, was detained at the scene. A probable cause search yielded suspected methamphetamine, drug paraphernalia, and other controlled substances.
Hensley was taken to Plymouth Hospital for jail clearance and a certified chemical test. He was later booked into Marshall County Jail on a $1,500 cash bond for operating a vehicle as a habitual traffic violator, operating while intoxicated, possession of methamphetamine, possession of a hypodermic syringe, and possession of a controlled substance.
Formal charges are pending with the Marshall County Prosecutor's Office.
Readers are reminded that charging information supported by an affidavit of probable cause is merely an allegation that a crime has been committed, and there is only probable cause to believe that a crime has been committed. They are presumed innocent throughout the proceedings and are entitled to be represented by counsel and to a trial by jury at which the State is obligated to provide proof beyond a reasonable doubt before a judgment of guilt may be made.