Pearson man arrested on firearms charges, allegedly discards marijuana in police car

A 38-year-old convicted felon from Pearson was arrested and jailed after officers found a gun in his vehicle during a traffic stop. On the way to the Coffee County Jail, he allegedly left a small amount of marijuana in the back seat of the patrol car.

On May 22 around 2 a.m., a Douglas police officer noticed a white Ford Ranger traveling in the city with a tag light that wasn’t working. Another officer had reported that she had seen two “suspicious” vehicles parked near the Bealls Outlet. Both vehicles left when their drivers noticed the officer. One of the vehicles, the second officer reported, was a white Ranger.

The officer stopped the Ranger at the Circle K on East Baker Highway. The driver was identified as Tarryl Vickers, 38, of Pearson. Vickers was on felony probation and as such, had a Fourth Amendment waiver. The officer searched the vehicle and found a Ruger .380 handgun behind the passenger’s seat. Vickers stated that his uncle also drives the vehicle.

The officer arrested Vickers on possession of a firearm charges and transported him to the Coffee County Jail. At the jail, the officer noticed a small amount of marijuana in the floor of his patrol car. Vickers stated that the marijuana wasn’t his but the officer said the car gets searched every day and no one had been in the backseat that day except for Vickers. 

He was charged with improper tag display, tag light required, purchase/possession/manufacture/distribution/sale of marijuana, and receipt/possession/transfer of a firearm by a convicted felon. Vickers was booked into the Coffee County Jail but has since been released on bond.