By Shavonne Potts
shavonne.potts@salisburypost.com

CHINA GROVE — A China Grove man faces marijuana and other drug charges after the vehicle he was riding in was stopped for not having a license plate, according to Rowan County Sheriff’s Capt. John Sifford.

Keenan Damarcus Johnson, 24, of Vivian Road, was charged on Monday with felony possession with intent to manufacture, sell and deliver a controlled substance Schedule VI, misdemeanor possession of marijuana, misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance Schedule II, felony possession of a controlled substance Schedule I and misdemeanor possession of marijuana drug paraphernalia.

Johnson was a passenger in the vehicle while his fiancee, Sydney Gabrielle Duggan, 25, of NC 152 West in China Grove, was issued a citation for possession of marijuana paraphernalia.

The traffic stop occurred at 7:20 p.m. when the deputy was sitting in the parking lot of the BP at North Main Street when he saw a white van coming from Shue Road with no license plate, Sifford said.

It appeared there was a piece of paper in the window, but the deputy noted in a report that he couldn’t read the paper because of the window tint on the van.

The deputy stopped the van in the 300 block of East NC 152. The deputy spoke to the Keenan Johnson, the passenger, first. The driver, Sydney Duggan, said she lost her license plate because of the weather. She said she said the van was registered to her. Johnson said they recently got the van.

The deputy said in his report there was a marijuana smell coming from the van. According to the report, Duggan told the deputy there was marijuana in the van earlier. Duggan reportedly told the deputy he would probably find something in the van if he searched it. She gave consent for the deputy to check the van.

Johnson admitted the marijuana was in the passenger side door, according to the sheriff’s office.

The officers found a large plastic bag in the door compartment with marijuana, three pills that officers said appeared to be ecstasy and a white wrapper with a sticky substance believed to be dab or marijuana wax.

One officer found Duggan’s purse and found a digital scale with marijuana residue on it as well as a smoking pipe that contained some of the waxy substance. The officer also found a lunch box/cooler between the back passenger seats with marijuana inside the front zipper compartment. The cooler had Keenan Johnson’s name on it, Sifford said.

The officers noted the couple had a baby in the back seat, sitting in a car seat. Also in the van was a multi-colored glass smoking pipe, a Cigarillo pack and a plastic bag that contained several blue pills.

A pill bottle was found under the baby’s car seat. The pill bottle had a woman’s name on it and contained amphetamine salts, which is used to treat ADHD, Sifford said.

Duggan said the pill bottle belonged to Johnson’s mother.

In addition to the citation, Duggan also received a written warning for the license plate. The two bags of marijuana weighed 14 grams and the other weighed 15 grams.