FORT WALTON BEACH - An 18-year-old man faces drug charges after he was stopped and a drug-sniffing dog alerted to narcotics in his vehicle.
On Dec. 2 a Fort Walton Beach Police officer noticed a vehicle driving down U.S. Highway 98 near St. Mary Avenue with a tag light that wasn't working. He stopped the car and noticed the driver appeared to be nervous. When he asked the young man if he had narcotics in the vehicle, the young man became even more nervous.
The officer's K9 dog, Catty, did a free-air sniff around the vehicle and alerted to the presence of narcotics.
The officer searched the vehicle and found pieces of marijuana on the driver's seat, a bud between the driver's seat and center console, a digital scale with "a lot" of resin in a hidden compartment in the center console, 16 marijuana cigarettes in the ashtray, a jar containing 6 grams of marijuana in the hatch, and two bottles of alcohol next to the jar of marijuana.
The man was charged with possession of marijuana less than 20 grams, possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of alcohol by a person under the age of 21.
His court date is Dec. 26.