Ward 4 Councilman Pierre Beard’s day before a judge in Gordo, Alabama, has been bumped to next month.
Beard was set to go before Gordo Municipal Court on Feb. 6 in connection with his Dec. 1 arrest. The charges, which included driving under the influence (alcohol), possession of marijuana second offense, possession of drug paraphernalia first offense and illegal alcohol, are all misdemeanors.
Gordo Police Chief Johnny Stephenson told The Dispatch Tuesday morning Beard’s court date was continued Monday until March 19. He added that municipal court dates can only be continued once.
“The only way to (continue the case again) would be if a lawyer gets involved and does some kind of mumbo-jumbo,” Stephenson said. “The state mandates how many times they can do it and how they can do it.”
Beard, along with Waffle House armed robbery suspect Qvaris Shawnterris Betts, were traveling through Gordo on Dec. 1 when they were pulled over by the Gordo Police Department for allegedly not having a tag. Officers reportedly saw an open container of alcohol in the car, and the traffic stop escalated at that point.
Both men were arrested. Betts was charged with public intoxication, possession of marijuana (second offense), possession of drug paraphernalia (first offense) and illegal alcohol.
Betts was previously arrested in June of last year and charged with two counts of armed robbery for allegedly robbing two people at the Columbus Waffle House on Highway 45.
He was found by law enforcement at a hotel room in the La Quinta Inn that was booked under Beard’s name.
Later in December, both men would be arrested together for a second time. Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office deputies came to Beard’s house to serve a warrant on Betts, who had just been indicted for the Waffle House robbery. Deputies allegedly smelled marijuana in the residence and got a search warrant.
Beard would eventually be charged with possession of methamphetamine and possession of marijuana, both in misdemeanor amounts.
Brian Jones is the local government reporter for Columbus and Lowndes County.
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