By Ray King
A $50,000 bond was set Wednesday for a Pine Bluff man on drug and weapons related charges.
Jefferson County District Judge Kim Bridgforth set the bond after ruling prosecutors have probable cause to charge Courtney Brunson, 44, with possession of a controlled substance with purpose to deliver and simultaneous possession of drugs and firearms.
Reading from an affidavit by White Hall Police Investigator Ryan Edwards, Deputy Prosecutor Beth Carson said at about 11 p.m. Monday, a White Hall officer was patrolling Sheridan Road when he saw a vehicle at the intersection with I-530 that was sitting at the stop light which was green.
The officer followed the vehicle and made a traffic stop after seeing the driver was not staying in his lane.
Carson said the driver, later identified as Brunson told the officer he had drank a beer and agreed to take a field sobriety test. Before that happened, the officer patted down Brunson for officer safety and felt an object in his crotch that turned out to be a glass jar containing a green vegetable substance that field tested positive for marijuana.
When the vehicle was searched, officers found a grinder commonly used to grind up marijuana and a bag containing a white pill that Brunson said was X (ecstasy). A .45-caliber loaded pistol was also found in the car, and an envelope containing $3,282 in cash.
Bunson was told to come back to court Nov. 20.
