Lazaro Aleman: Greene Publishing, Inc.
First, he failed to show up in court for a pretrial conference in Madison County on two misdemeanor charges, causing the judge to issue a warrant for the arrest of 30-year-old Marion Devon Thompson on Wednesday, March 29. His original charges in Madison County stemmed from being arrested and charged with reckless driving and knowingly driving with a suspended license, back in September 2016.
Thompson, a Monticello resident, managed to elude capture for almost exactly two months. Then, on Wednesday, May 31, he drew the attention of Jefferson County law enforcement by refusing to leave his hotel room at the Eco Lodge on Gamble Road, in Monticello, by the appointed checkout time of 11 a.m.
Thompson, according to the arrest report, had previously proven himself problematic to the hotel management staff by insisting on checking out at 2 p.m., despite repeatedly being told otherwise. Thus, when the 11 a.m. deadline came on May 31 and Thompson hadn’t checked out nor responded to phone calls or knocks at his room door, the hotel manager and an employee entered the room to collect any of Thompson’s remaining items and make the space ready for the next guest.
That’s when the manager spotted the two small bags of marijuana and the one of a white powdery substance on the countertop below the TV and dialed the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office (JCSO). The rest, as can be guessed, was preordained.
JCSO Investigators Dorian Bradley and Chris Eades responded to the call, confirmed that Thompson had a warrant, had the evidence photographed, and waited to see if Thompson would return to the hotel by 2 p.m. True to form, Thompson showed back up at his room about 1:25 p.m., at which time the two investigators accosted and arrested him.
A search of the room followed. “We located the two baggies of marijuana and the baggy of cocaine from the countertop,” Eades writes in his report. “There was also some loose marijuana on the countertop with the baggies as well. We also located two sandwich style baggies containing a powder substance believed to be cocaine, a piece of paper on the night stand containing a white powdery substance, several small red baggies and blue baggies consistent with those used to package cocaine for sale and/or distribution, a large sum of U.S. currency of various denominations consistent with the sale of cocaine, and a Smith and Wesson semiautomatic 9mm handgun. We also located several prepaid credit cards, two of which had other individuals’ names on them, another individual’s Florida ID card, and four cellular telephones,” concluded Eades.
Thompson, a convicted felon, was already on felony probation until April 5, 2022.