Man Arrested For Cocaine Possession and Warrant After Greeting Police

An Athens man with an outstanding warrant was arrested Thursday and charged with cocaine posession after he greeted an officer near a playground, according to an report.

An officer was on patrol near Columbus Avenue when he stopped and unloaded his bicycle for a bike patrol. As he was unloading, he heard a man tell him to "let a young man have that bike." The officer then saw Dontavous Malcolm, 19, on a swing in a nearby playground, and recognized that he had an active warrant for probation violation. Malcolm continued to speak to the officer while swinging.

The officer arrested Malcolm and started to search him where he was, but decided to move closer to his vehicle because of kids in the area. As they were moving away from the swings, the officer saw Malcolm step on something that had fallen out of his shorts. When the officer bent to pick it up, Malcolm shifted his weight on to the object and tried to talk the officer out of seeing the object.

After examining the object — an orange medicine bottle with a white top — the officer noted there were three small squares which later tested positive for crack cocaine. 

Malcolm was charged with possession of cocaine and with committing a drug offense within 1000 feet of a housing project. He was taken to Clarke County Jail.