Mismatched plates lead to meth arrest

CLINTONVILLE – On the evening of May 27, Clintonville Police Department, Sgt. Andrew Kizewski spotted a small silver sedan operating without a hood. He ran the license plates and the vehicle registration expired in 2024.
He followed and the sedan and watched it exit a parking lot near the entrance to Mike’s Saloon at South Main Street and 10th Street and noticed the front license plate had a different number than the rear license plate.
According to the criminal complaint, he pulled over the sedan on North Main Street at 13th Street. He met the driver, Noah Johnson, who explained that the vehicle’s current bumper came from a different car and that he had forgotten to remove the old license plate. The front-seat passenger, Evander Ray Rodriguez, 21, said he had a firearm.
Kizewski observed a handgun in a black side holster in plain view. He instructed Rodriguez to leave the gun where it was and advised him that a backup officer would retrieve it.
Officer Rollin arrived and removed the handgun for duration of the traffic stop.
While Kizewski ran DOT and background checks, Rollin walked his K-9 partner around the exterior of the sedan. The dog sniffed and signaled the presence of narcotics in the car.
Rollin requested that Rodriguez step out of the car and searched him. Rodriguez stated he “might as well be honest” and informed the officers that he also had a small amount of methamphetamine in his pocket. From Rodriguez’s pocket, Rollin retrieved a small plastic container holding two plastic bags containing a crystal-like substance. He also recovered three THC cartridges and three $1 bills. Rodriguez said his preferred way to ingest the drug was by snorting it through the rolled dollar bills.
Johnson was searched and came out clean. The officers also found a vaping device, a glass pipe and small dish filled with a brown wax-like substance (THC).
Johnson was issued a written warning for the display of an unauthorized registration plate and Rodriguez was arrested for possession of methamphetamine, use of a dangerous weapon.