Ruston Police arrested one man and seized two rifles, drugs, and drug paraphernalia during the investigation of a fight last Sunday evening.
Officers responded to Allen Street about 5:30 p.m. Sunday evening regarding a reported fight in progress. There they found a victim who said a group of young men from the Sikes Street area had jumped on him.
Police patrolled the area looking for the suspects and located a group at a boarded-up house marked with ‘no trespassing’ signs. While interviewing the group, officers found two backpacks under the carport. No one in the group would claim the backpacks. A search of a backpack revealed a M4 carbine with no buttstock, making it more concealable.
The rifle contained a fully-loaded magazine and was equipped with a “brass catcher.” Brass catchers are designed to capture empty shell casings as they are ejected from a rifle. They can be used to prevent evidence from being left at a crime scene.
When one of the men seated in a vehicle at the location was approached, officers smelled raw marijuana. Johntarius E. Thomas, 20, of Ruston, admitted he had marijuana in the car. A search was conducted, and a Radical Arms M4-style rifle was found on the back seat. A records check indicated the rifle was stolen.
Also recovered in the car search were multiple bags of marijuana and digital scales.
Thomas was booked at the Lincoln Parish Detention Center for possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, illegal possession of stolen things, possession of a firearm in the presence of a controlled substance, violation of the controlled substance drug-free zone (church), and criminal trespass.
Bail for Thomas was set at $35,000.
This information has been provided by a law enforcement agency as public information. Persons named or shown in photographs or video as suspects in a criminal investigation, or arrested and charged with a crime, have not been convicted of any criminal offense and are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
