Three Charlotte County residents were arrested Monday on multiple drug charges after an undercover Narcotics detective spotted the one of them driving with a suspended driver’s license.
On Monday afternoon, while an undercover Narcotics detective was driving in an unmarked vehicle, he noticed that the driver of the vehicle stopped behind him at the traffic light at Edgewater and US 41 was someone he recognized as Norris Hubbard Jr., 34, of 520 Drury Lane in Punta Gorda. He asked the Sheriff’s Office communications center to check the status of Hubbard’s driving privileges and confirmed that his license was suspended.
After the light turned green, the detective allowed Hubbard’s vehicle to pass him. He continued to follow the vehicle until deputies in marked patrol cars were in the area. When the deputies pulled up to the vehicle, Hubbard had already exited the vehicle and appeared to have been giving something to one of the rear seat passengers.
The detective told Hubbard he had seen him driving the vehicle and was being placed under arrest for driving on a suspended driver’s license. While Hubbard was being searched, deputies found two Suboxone patches in his pocket.
During a search of the vehicle, detectives located two baggies of powder that tested positive for cocaine and three baggies of a green leafy substance that tested positive for marijuana. They also located a glass pipe that tested positive for cocaine. Rudelton Tyrone Bellamy, 32, of 195 Date Street in Port Charlotte, and Melissa Ann Mason, 29, of 1705 Oxford Drive in Englewood, were both arrested for being in constructive possession of the substances. When Bellamy was searched following his arrest, deputies found another baggie in his pocket that contained powder that tested positive for cocaine.
A fourth person was sitting in the front passenger seat, away from where the drugs were located. He was not arrested, but because he appeared to be unable to drive, he called someone to come get him and his vehicle.
Hubbard was charged with Possession of Suboxone, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia and Driving on a Suspended Driver’s License. He was being held at the Charlotte County Jail on $12,000 bond.
Bellamy was charged with Possession of Cocaine, Possession of Marijuana and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. He was released on a $4,500 bond.
Mason was charged with Possession of Cocaine, Possession of Marijuana, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia and Violation of Probation. She is being held without bond due to the probation violation charge.