Morgantown man arrested on drug charges after traffic stop
MORGANTOWN — A Morgantown man, 20-year-old Benjamin Goldfarb, faces a felony and two misdemeanors for drug possession after crashing his car in poor weather conditions earlier this month.
In the early morning hours of Jan. 3, Brown County Sheriff’s Deputy Chris Griggs responded to a crash on State Road 135 North in Brown County.
According to the probable cause affidavit, while Griggs was en route to the scene, he discovered that the driver of the vehicle was Goldfarb.
Griggs knew of Goldfarb because of information he had received from a source about him transporting illegal narcotics, specifically cocaine, from Marion County to sell in Brown County.
The affidavit states that Griggs redirected his route from the scene of the crash to a parking lot at 135 North and Hurdle Road, where a volunteer fire unit had transported Goldfarb for medical evaluation due to the poor weather and road conditions.
Shortly after Griggs’ arrival, the medics completed their evaluation of Goldfarb, and Griggs entered the ambulance to speak with him. According to the report, Goldfarb said he lost control of the vehicle because of water on the road, causing the vehicle to run off the right side of the road.
He reportedly struck a mailbox and telephone pole, slid down an embankment and ran into a tree. A crew was needed to reclaim the vehicle.
According to the report, Goldfarb told Griggs he was on his way home from Franklin where he had been visiting a friend, and had only been gone from home for a few hours. Griggs noted that he did not detect any signs of impairment while questioning Goldfarb.
As the two exited the ambulance, a family member of Goldfarb arrived on scene. The family member was also the owner of the car that was now at the bottom of a ravine. Griggs handed Goldfarb’s cell phone over to the family member and they left together. Griggs then went to the location of the crash.
When Griggs arrived at the scene, he reported that the weather was “extreme,” specifically noting pouring rain. Powerlines had fallen and blocked the road. Workers were attempting to remove the wrecked vehicle from the ravine.
Griggs spoke with Deputy Jacob Gibson, was also on scene and is a certified canine handler. The officers determined that, due to the previously received information about Goldfarb’s transportation of illegal narcotics, Gibson would remain with the vehicle once the vehicle was removed from the ravine until it had reached a safe place.
The officers traveled with the vehicle to the towing company and Gibson’s canine conducted the free air sniff. According to the affidavit, the canine gave a positive indication to the odor of a controlled substance inside the vehicle.
Officers found a bag that contained two plastic bags — one filled with “plant material,” and another with a white powder that field tested positive for cocaine.
Also found in the search was a scale, cups and other objects used for mixing and cutting narcotics, a bottle of laxative for cutting, a plastic straw and rolling papers for ingesting, multiple empty plastic baggies and a 9MM handgun loaded with 14 live rounds.
The evening of Jan. 3, Griggs met with Goldfarb and owner of the vehicle to discuss the items that were found in the search. Griggs spoke with the family member first.
According to the report, she told Griggs that Goldfarb had left in her vehicle on Jan. 1, which went against the timeline Goldfarb had established when he was first questioned after the crash. Goldfarb said he was only gone a few hours.
Griggs then asked her if she owned the bag and she said no.
Griggs then attempted to speak with Goldfarb, but he plead the Fifth Amendment and refused to answer any questions. Goldfarb was placed under arrest and remanded to the jail staff.
The report includes that a search warrant was applied for Goldfarb’s cell phone, and upon service of the warrant, it was revealed that he had destroyed it with a hammer.
Goldfarb was formally charged on Jan. 5 with a Level 3 felony for possession of cocaine, a Class B misdemeanor for possession of marijuana and a Class C misdemeanor for possession of paraphernalia.
Driver causes two crashes, flees both, while suspended
A Franklin man, 28-year-old Ronald Elmore Jr., faces a Class A misdemeanor for driving while suspended and two Class B misdemeanors for leaving the scene of an accident after an event that took place last summer.
According to the probable cause affidavit, Brown County Dispatch advised of two separate hit and runs. The first caller, on Beanblossom Road, advised that a male in a gray BMW had struck their barn, then a tree.
The caller heard the crash from her home and when she looked outside, she allegedly saw the driver — later identified as Elmore — exit the crashed car and get picked up by another driver. She said the two went northbound on Beanblossom Road.
The second caller, on Gatesville Road, said a dark colored passenger car struck her vehicle as she pulled out of her driveway.
Brown County Sheriff’s Deputy Austin Schonfeld and Nashville Patrolman Dylan Smock responded the scene on Beanblossom Road first. While en route, dispatch advised the BMW’s license plate returned as belonging to Elmore, whom Schonfeld knew to have a driving status of suspended-prior.
Upon the officers’ arrival, they observed a gray BMW with extensive damage, tire marks in the yard and damage to a barn on the property.
Schonfeld spoke with the caller, who is also the owner of the yard and barn that was damaged, who repeated what she had told dispatch.
He also took photos of the BMW, marks in the yard and damage to the barn. Inside the vehicle, Schonfeld observed Fireball shooters in the driver-side door.
Schonfeld then relocated to the scene on Gatesville Road, where he made contact with the driver of the car that was hit and the caller, who was in the passenger seat at the time. They told Schonfeld that they were struck by the BMW as they backed out of their driveway.
According to the report, there was damage to the driver side of the vehicle. Schonfeld took photos of the damage, then returned to the Beanblossom Road location.
While there, dispatch advised that a male was on the phone, who had identified himself as the driver of the vehicle that had picked up Elmore after he hit the barn.
Schonfeld spoke to him, and according to the affidavit, he said that a BMW had passed him on Gatesville Road, and then he saw the same BMW at the crash location later down the road.
He saw Elmore standing outside of the BMW and offered him a ride to the Cordry-Sweetwater area. The caller mentioned that while he two were riding together, Elmore shared that his father had recently died.
Allegedly, as the driver was dropping Elmore off, he told him to admit to crashing his car.
Months later, on Sept. 28, Schonfeld and Brown County Sheriff’s Deputy Joshua Bales served an arrest warrant on Elmore, for having an outstanding warrant in Brown and Johnson counties for failure to appear.
During the arrest, Schonfeld asked Elmore what happened to his vehicle, and if he had been driving on the day it was wrecked on Beanblossom Road. Elmore said his license is suspended and he doesn’t drive, so he was not driving that day.
Schonfeld then asked Elmore about what the male caller had said about picking him up, speaking with him and saying his name. According to the report, Elmore denied driving the BMW when it was wrecked.
A probable cause affidavit was filed on Jan. 5.
