NICEVILLE - A driver with a burned out brake light was arrested on multiple charges after he struggled with Niceville Police officers and tried to hide drugs, according to an arrest report.
On Dec. 7 officers stopped 39-year-old Joseph Curtis Fairley of High Springs, Fla., because the driver-side taillight on his 1998 Chevy Tahoe was not working. Fairley stopped at a gas station and handed officers a Florida I.D. card.
Officers were notified by dispatch that Fairley's license had been suspended and he was a habitual traffic offender. Officers tried to arrest him, but Fairley struggled with them, reaching into his right front pocket and pulling away. He got something from his pocket and dropped it into a nearby trash can until he was forced against the side of his Tahoe and handcuffed, the report said.
The officer found what Fairley threw into the trash - a pill bottle containing seven 30mg oxycodone pills that Fairley didn't have a prescription for. As officers searched the Tahoe, they found an envelope with three baggies of a white, powdery substance that tested positive for cocaine.
Fairley was charged with resisting an officer with violence, driving without a license (habitual offender), possession of a controlled substance without a prescription, and possession of cocaine.
His court date is Jan. 29.