Case of mistaken identity results in possession arrest

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A Nashville police officer approached a man May 28 whom he thought was wanted on a warrant. It wasn’t the right guy, but in the process, the man admitted he had drugs on him, according to a probable-cause affidavit.

Officer Keith Lawson was looking for a Nashville man who had missed a court date. He found a man, James D. Sturgeon, in the laundromat and told him there was a warrant for his arrest. As soon as the officer was done speaking, Sturgeon told him he had meth in his pocket and he was “taking it to get rid of it,” the police report said.

He asked the officer what the warrant was for and who it was for. It was not for Sturgeon; it was for someone else.

Sturgeon asked if Lawson could just cite him and let him go since he’d just admitted he had “dope” on him. Lawson handcuffed him and searched him.

In a bandana he found a burnt pipe with residue, a small plastic bag with a whitish substance and a folded-up $5 bill. Sturgeon told Lawson there was meth inside the money, and that’s what Lawson found, the report said.

Sturgeon, 28, of Bear Wallow Hill Road, was charged June 6 with possession of methamphetamine, a Level 6 felony, and possession of paraphernalia, a misdemeanor.

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