A Columbus man faces another court date and a $20,000 bond after his arrest for crack cocaine possession during a weekend traffic stop on U.

Tuesday, September 14, 1999

A Columbus man faces another court date and a $20,000 bond after his arrest for crack cocaine possession during a weekend traffic stop on U.S. 52.

Hanging Rock Police Department Capt. William Long arrested Cleo Junior Frazier, 1820 Eastfield Dr., Columbus, Friday after pulling over the truck in which Frazier was riding for a speeding violation.

Frazier was arraigned Monday in Ironton Municipal Court on two counts of drug abuse. He was arrested on charges of two counts possession of cocaine, possession of drug paraphernalia and drug abuse.

Frazier will retain his own counsel and a Sept. 30 preliminary hearing was set, according to court records.

While patrolling U.S. 52 about 6 p.m. Friday, Capt. Long stopped a dual-cab pickup driven by Robert E. Ratliff II of Columbus. Frazier was in the back seat area, Long said.

"I was talking to the people who were in the truck and he was acting fidgety, he couldn’t sit still," Long said.

When asked, Frazier said he did not have identification. And, Frazier continued to act suspiciously, so he was asked to step outside the vehicle, Long said.

Frazier tried stuffing something in a seat near where he was sitting, which turned out to be a bag filled with about one ounce of cocaine.

Long and Lawrence County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Jerry Elliott, who had been called in for assistance, arrested Frazier and transported him to the Lawrence County Jail.

Three other adults in the truck, including Ratliff who was cited for speeding, were not detained, Long said.

One of the adults was Frazier’s relative and they were traveling from Pikeville, Ky., back to Columbus, he said.

Monday, during Frazier’s arraignment, Hanging Rock police bagged and labeled 16 to 17 grams of what appeared to be cocaine powder and about 15 grams, or 42 rocks, of crack cocaine, which was taken to the Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation in Columbus for analysis, Long said.

The weekend bust marks the most recent Hanging Rock traffic stop that netted a drug arrest, but not the only one, Long added.

"Drugs like this you don’t get that often," he said. "You might get a couple of joints or enough marijuana for a misdemeanor charge, but nothing this big."

Still, the amount of drugs taken off the streets from U.S. 52 stops adds up to more and more each year, Long said.