Area men facing drug charges after weekend traffic stop

Hunter
03/10/24

Two area men face drug charges after the driver fled a traffic stop at a high rate of speed.

Police say the incident occurred a little before 12:15 am on Saturday.  28-year-old Antonio Perry of Iris Court in Tiffin was observed driving a 2021 BMW with expired plates on Highway 6 near Lakeside Drive and a traffic stop was initiated. As the deputy approached Perry’s vehicle, he allegedly took off at a high rate of speed.

Officers found the vehicle a short time later and Perry was located walking about a block away from his car.  He reportedly had the vehicle key on him when stopped and admitted that he was the driver who took off from the traffic stop.

A check of Perry’s driving record found his status as barred through April 2026. He was searched post arrest, and reportedly had over a gram of raw marijuana and a Percocet pill that wasn’t prescribed to him.  Perry was previously convicted of marijuana possession in 2022 and 2023.

He was charged with Reckless Driving, Interference with Official Acts, Driving While Barred, Marijuana possession, and a Controlled Substance offense. He could be sentenced to over four years in jail if convicted on the charges facing him.

His passenger, 24-year-old Otis Dawson of Muscatine Avenue in Iowa City, was also charged after he allegedly was found with a shoe box carrying 9 individual medicine bottles full of marijuana. He faces a felony Controlled Substance violation and Failure to affix Tax Stamp, and could be sentenced to up to ten years in prison if convicted.