By Heather Cobun
Carroll County Times
WESTMINSTER, Md. — A New York man allegedly assaulted Carroll County Detention Center employees after they tried to get him to spit out a bag of suspected crack cocaine he tried to swallow during a strip search at the jail.
Davonte Benjamin Brown, 19, is charged with possession of a narcotic with the intent to distribute; possession of CDS - not marijuana; possession of drug paraphernalia; possession of contraband in a place of confinement; three counts of second-degree assault of a detention center employee; causing a prison employee to have contact with bodily fluid; and obstructing and hindering police, according to electronic court files.
He was being held at the detention center Tuesday, Sept. 2, on $50,000 bond, according to electronic court files.
Brown was stopped in Westminster by a Carroll County sheriff’s deputy on Saturday, Aug. 30, for operating a scooter without a helmet, according to charging documents. The deputy stopped Brown and saw that the scooter did not have any registration plates, according to the documents.
When asked for his license, Brown allegedly said he did not have one and also denied having any form of identification, according to the documents. Brown originally gave the deputy an incorrect date of birth, but he did identify himself.
Brown also told the deputy he did not have any registration for the scooter and said it belonged to “Tom Cruise,” according to the documents. A check of Motor Vehicle Administration records showed the scooter was unregistered and uninsured, according to the documents.
Brown was arrested on a charge of driving without a license, and during a subsequent search the deputy found a black digital scale, two cellphones and $100 cash, according to the documents.
The deputy had previously found a box of small bags inside the seat of the scooter while searching for a vehicle identification number, according to the documents.
The items were placed back into Brown’s pockets because they were not regarded as a safety concern and he was transported to the Carroll County Detention Center, according to the documents.
After delivering Brown to the detention center, the deputy found the scale, which appeared to have been intentionally shoved into the back seat of the patrol vehicle, according to the documents.
Brown was told a strip search would be conducted and initially he complied, but when he was ordered to remove his underwear, he turned away, stuck his hand in his underwear, removed a large bag of suspected crack cocaine and tried to swallow it, according to the documents.
Detention center employees used pepper spray and ordered Brown to spit out the bag, but he did not comply, according to the documents.
Brown allegedly bit the finger of one employee, spit blood on a second and injured a third while he was being restrained, according to the documents. The bag of suspected crack cocaine was recovered, according to the documents.