A 28-year old Alexis man is facing numerous charges after a traffic stop around 2:00 am last Wednesday, October 27th. Officers conducted a traffic stop on an SUV without a front license plate driven by Tanner Smith near the intersection of East Main and North Seminary Streets. It also appeared that a bicycle on top of the SUV wasn’t secured – but officers later determined it was being tied down using phone chargers. Police were familiar with Smith’s history and had a K9 unit conduct a sniff test which ultimately alerted them to the presence of narcotics. Inside with vehicle officers found a vile with what later field-tested positive for meth. Also inside the vehicle, police found seven cell phones – one of which had a Knox College sticker on it, three Monmouth College student IDs, a passport, a California ID, and five personal checks belonging to an Oneida resident. Smith denied having knowledge of the stolen property. Smith was taken into custody and charged with Operating an Uninsured Motor Vehicle and Possession of Meth. Later that day, officers met with the Knox College football team whose locker room was recently burglarized. Two players identified their cell phones and they were returned. The Oneida resident told police she did not know Smith and wanted to pursue charges. GPD also spoke with Monmouth PD who said the Monmouth College locker room was also burglarized and the IDs and passport were reported stolen. GPD then requested an arrest warrant to be issued to Tanner Smith for Possession of Stolen Property.
