Martin Morris, a 53-year-old mechanic from Austin, was charged with possession of a controlled substance. Police received a call at 10 a.m. Sunday about a man driving a car holding a dog out a window in the PetSmart parking lot area at 2701 Interstate 35 South, the affidavit said.
It said that when an officer arrived, he saw a man driving north in front of a Walmart who had a tan puppy “hanging completely out of his driver’s side window.”
“At one point,” the officer said in the affidavit, “I thought he even placed it on his roof.” The officer stopped the man, later identified as Morris, the affidavit said. It said Morris’ car had several puppies and dogs inside of it.
Morris said he was trying to sell the puppies, the document said. It said the officer told Morris there were more traditional ways to sell puppies, including Craigslist.
The officer also noticed that Morris was exhibiting several symptoms consistent with illegal drug use, including excessive nervousness, twitchy fingers and rapid talking in a low volume, the affidavit said.
Morris told the officer he had last used meth about four months ago, the affidavit said. But after the officer said he thought Morris was under the influence of an illegal stimulant, Morris admitted he had used meth the day before, according to the affidavit.
It said Morris also told the officer he might have a syringe in the center console of his car. Morris showed the officer where he typically injected the methamphetamine in the crooks of his elbows and the officer saw 50 to 100 injection points, the affidavit said.
The officer could not get inside Morris’ car to search it because two of the dogs inside the car had started getting in a vicious fight, according to the affidavit.
“I allowed him (Morris) to get into his vehicle to break up the fight and protect the dogs,” the affidavit said. It said Morris then got a syringe out of the center console of the vehicle and handed it to the officer.
Another officer found a trace amount of meth inside the syringe, the affidavit said.
Morris was being held Tuesday at the Williamson County Jail with bail set at $75,000.
(Statesman - May 17, 2016)
