Traffic Stop Uncovers Drugs, Alcohol and a Loaded Handgun

ST. CLOUD -- A North Dakota man faces four felony charges in Stearns County after a traffic stop turned up drugs, an open bottle of alcohol and a loaded handgun. An Avon police officer stopped a vehicle near Sauk Centre Monday because of expired tabs.

Court records show the driver, 45-year-old Michael Keondre Smith, was reaching in the back seat trying to manipulate a shirt to conceal something when the officer spotted an open bottle of vodka. The officer also smelled marijuana and searched the vehicle.

The search turned up a loaded handgun with the hammer back and the safety off, a baggie containing pills believed to be ecstasy, a marijuana roach, a baggie of cocaine and a loaded handgun magazine.

A woman passenger told the officer she didn't know Smith had the gun until he accused her of cheating and pointed it at her. She said Smith made her take off her shirt and pull her pants down and she was terrified.

Smith allegedly told the officer they were driving from North Dakota to Chicago to pick up the woman's daughter. He first denied knowing the gun was in the car but later admitted he put it there and that he was a convicted felon who isn't allowed to have weapons. He confirmed he confronted the woman about cheating and admitted the shirt in the back was hers but said they were just "touching on each other".

Smith is charged with being a felon in possession of a gun, 2nd-degree assault with a gun, domestic assault and 5th-degree drug possession. He has previous felony convictions from 2015 in North Dakota and in 2002 and 2003 in Georgia.