By LESLIE EIKLEBERRY
Salina Post
A traffic violation led to the arrest of two Salinans on requested drug charges and a requested firearms charge late Thursday morning in north Salina.
Salina Police Captain Paul Forrester said this morning that an officer on patrol in the 500 block of E. Pacific Avenue saw a blue motorcycle with a man and a woman on it driving eastbound just before noon. The officer recognized the motorcycle as being associated with someone he knew to have an active Saline County District Court warrant.
The duo headed south on N. Ohio Street, pulling into Casey's, 500 N. Ohio Street, with the officer following to conduct a traffic stop as the license plate on the motorcycle had expired in July of 2021, Forrester said. At that point, other officers had also arrived.
Officers went inside the store and made contact with the driver, identified as Dillon Sonnier, 23, of Salina. Forrester said that when they took Sonnier outside to talk about the expired license plate, he became nervous and asked to go into the restroom. Instead, officers patted him down and found an SCCY 9mm handgun in his coat. They also found a small metal container with pills that were later identified as amphetamine.
Forrester said that because Sonnier was a convicted felon, he was not to be in possession of a firearm.
Sonnier was arrested on the following requested charges, Forrester said.
●Criminal possession of a firearm
●Possession of a controlled substance
●No valid driver's license
●Unlawful acts with registration
Meanwhile, the woman who had been on the motorcycle had gone into the women's restroom and refused to exit, however, a store employee finally got her to leave the restroom, Forrester. The woman, identified as Elektra Iford, 22, of Salina, had an active warrant from Saline County District Court.
Forrester said Iford was arrested on the warrant and on the following requested charges.
●Possession of methamphetamine
●Possession of drug paraphernalia