Man Finds Out the Hard Way That Cocaine Possession is a Felony

A man found asleep in a black SUV parked in a Peachtree Corners driveway was just about to be let go when police found something to keep him around.

A woman who was house-sitting for her parents on High Falls Drive called police to report the suspicious SUV around 8 p.m. on June 8. According to a Gwinnett Police incident report, she suspected the man was someone she knew named “Matthew,” who was not allowed at the residence.

The man in the vehicle was in heavy sleep until police woke him up. The man said he was sorry to have fallen asleep, but he wasn’t Matthew. He said he was waiting for Matthew.

He said he was trying to get in contact with Matthew because Matthew’s cell phone died. He apologized several more times, according to the incident report.

The woman said she did not want to press charges against the man after it was confirmed he knew Matthew.

The man was asked if he was OK to drive. He said yes. An officer then asked if he could search the SUV. The answer was yes, again.

Police found a small chunky white substance and a bag with white residue — amounting to about 1 gram.. The field test said it was cocaine.

The man was informed he was under arrest for possession of a controlled substance. He asked if it was a felony or misdemeanor. “Felony,” came the response

The man said there wasn’t a “felony amount of drugs” inside the vehicle.

“I informed [him] that any amount of cocaine is a felony,” the officer wrote in the report.

“Oh, that,” he replied.

Travis Booterbaugh, of Marietta, was charged with possession of cocaine.