FRIENDSWOOD, Texas – A routine traffic stop led to the arrests of two repeat drug-offenders and a suspected drug-dealer Monday afternoon, Friendswood police said.
It all started around 3:10 p.m., when a Friendswood officer tried to pull over a car in the 500 block of E. Parkwood Avenue.
The officer said as soon as he flipped on his emergency lights, the passenger in the car tossed something out of the window.
Another patrol officer quickly picked the items up off the road while the first officer finished the traffic stop.
Police said there were two baggies tossed from the car – one containing 1.8 grams of methamphetamine, and the other containing Hydrocodone and Xanax pills.
As the driver of the car, 31-year-old Richard Holcombe of Alvin, stepped out of his vehicle, the first officer said he noticed a marijuana cigarette on Holcombe’s floorboard.
Both Holcombe and his passenger, 28-year-old Ronald Hall of Alvin, were arrested at the scene.
Hall was charged with possession of a controlled substance and tampering with evidence. At the time of his arrest, police said he was wearing an ankle monitor. They said he was recently released from the Brazoria County Jail after another drug-possession arrest. Hall’s record also includes arrests for burglary, theft and drug offenses.
Holcombe was initially charged only with possession of drug paraphernalia, but while he was in custody, police were notified about an outstanding parole violation warrant. As it turns out, Holcombe was on parole for robbery at the time of his most recent arrest. His record also includes prior arrests for drug and weapons offenses.
After Holcombe and Hall were taken into custody, they told investigators that, when they were pulled over, they were on their way to buy more meth at an H-E-B on Blackhawk at Beltway 8.
Plain-clothes Friendswood officers were dispatched to the store, and HPD investigators were notified.
Officers set up surveillance and said they saw a drug deal take place in plain view.
HPD officers later stopped a 2007 Tahoe allegedly involved in the deal, which was driven by 29-year-old Leonel Gonzalez of Houston.
Gonzalez was arrested and charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver.
Investigators said they found Gonzalez with 14.8 grams of meth on I-45, just north of Fuqua.
At the time of his arrest, Gonzalez was on probation for possession of a controlled substance. His record includes prior arrest for assault, weapons, alcohol and drug offenses.
