CARTERSVILLE, Ga. — Pipes, straws, heroin and methamphetamine were all found in the car of a man who insisted to metro Atlanta police he does not use drugs.
The Cartersville Police Department said they charged Jonathan Hillhouse with a variety of narcotics charges after initially pulling him over for concealing his license plate.
During the traffic stop, police saw the inside of the car was “heavily damaged and partially disassembled, with exposed wiring near the steering column.” A large piece of plastic fell off Hillhouse’s vehicle’s roof during the traffic stop.
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Hillhouse told police that he lived in his vehicle but had not yet registered it in his name, despite owning it for about a year and was on his way to mow a lawn while giving a passenger, Darrell Brock, a ride.
The police report says that was an indication that he may be involved in possible criminal activity.
At the request of police, Hillhouse let officers search his vehicle.
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What police found in the car
After opening the driver’s side door, officers reported finding a clear glass pipe with burnt residue under the driver’s seat.
Hillhouse told them he does not use drugs and did not know how the pipe got there.
“This statement contradicted his earlier claim that he lives in the vehicle, which would lead a reasonable and prudent officer to believe that one would know what was inside,” while living in it.
A continued search led police to find two straws, a metal pipe and a glass mirror containing a white, powdery substance.
The powder tested positive for methamphetamine when it was taken back to the police department for evidence examination.
Heroin, or medicine for a diabetic brother?
During the search, police also found a syringe hidden inside a seat flap on the driver’s seat.
When asked, Hillhouse told police the syringe was medication for his diabetic brother, which the positive narcotics test proved untrue, according to officers.
A field test found it was actually heroin.
As a result of the encounter, Hillhouse was cuffed. While doing a search of a state criminal database showed Brock was wanted on an arrest warrant for criminal trespass in Bartow County and was also taken into custody.
Hillhouse told officers during the interaction that “he does not do drugs and that there was no way it could belong to him.”
Taken to jail
At the county jail, Hillhouse refused to submit a urine sample.
Hillhouse was charged with:
- Possession of a Schedule I controlled substance
- Possession of a Schedule II controlled substance
- Possession of drug-related objects
- Failure to register a vehicle within the required time
- Concealing the identity of a vehicle
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