A Wisconsin man was sleeping in a vehicle near the interstate in De Soto early Saturday when he was awoken and arrested for marijuana.
Michael Steven Merriman, 27, of 4005 E. Lakeside Dr., Oak Creek, Wisconsin, was charged with controlled substance violation, second-offense possession of a controlled substance-marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.
The incident began about 2:45 a.m. Saturday in the 1300 block of Guthrie Street, where an officer of the De Soto Police Department stopped to check on a parked vehicle with its hazard lights flashing.
The officer found Merriman sleeping in the front seat of a 2021 Chevrolet Spark with Colorado plates and woke him up.
Merriman told the officer that “he was driving back from Colorado after helping move a family member to Las Vegas,” according to court records.
In the course of speaking with Merriman, the officer allegedly perceived “the smell of raw marijuana emitting from the vehicle,” according to court records. Merriman “admitted to smoking THC wax a few hours prior” and said “he did have some THC wax on him.”
Merriman allegedly consented to a search of his vehicle, and the search disclosed “15 unopened containers with raw marijuana flower in them, one cigar pack with raw marijuana in it, nine containers with THX wax, five containers of THC edibles, five THC vape pen cartridges that were unopened, one container of THC oil, one container with raw marijuana residue, one metal tool with THC wax residue on it and one glass smoking bulb with THC wax residue,” according to court records.
Merriman allegedly told the officer that all the items were “for personal use,” and he said that he bought it all “in Colorado to take back to Wisconsin with him.”
Merriman is held in the Dallas County Jail on a $10,000 cash-only bond in advance of an initial appearance in Dallas County District Court.
*A criminal charge is merely an accusation, and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
