Traffic Stop Leads To Drugs, Child Porn Being Found

On May 5, 2023 at approximately 11:55 p.m., Deputy Aaron Box made a traffic stop on Highway 5 for failure to stop at a stop sign. During the traffic stop Deputy Box observed indicators that led him to believe, the driver Thomas Richardson age 31 of Ava, possessed illegal items within his vehicle, according to Sheriff Chris Degase.
“Douglas County Sheriff’s Office K-9 Amigo was deployed on the vehicle to which he alerted to the odor of illegal narcotics,” Degase said. “A search of the vehicle resulted in approximately 1.71 grams of methamphetamine being located within the vehicle. An initial arrest warrant was obtained for Richardson for Possession of a Controlled Substance methamphetamine and Unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia. His bond was set at $1500 cash.
“As Deputy Box and Deputy Sam Evans continued the investigation, Deputy Box became suspicious that Richardson’s phone may contain child pornography. Deputy Box interviewed Richardson again and obtained consent to look in his phone and located several thousand images of child pornography.
Deputy Box then applied for another arrest warrant on Richardson. A second warrant was issued for Richardson for Possession of Child Pornography 2nd Offense. Bond was set at $100,000 cash only. Richardson is a prior sex offender and currently a registered sex offender in Douglas County.
“On May 9, 2023 Deputies serveded a search warrant on Richardson’s residence in western Douglas County where Jennie Gardner age 43 was taken into custody at the time of search warrant service,” Degase said. “Deputies seized an additional 1.7 grams of methamphetamine, electronic devices, multiple phones, and hard drives. All electronic devices will be sent to the Cyber Crimes Task Force to be analyzed. A warrant was issued for Gardner for Possession of a Controlled Substance Methamphetamine and Unlawful Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Bond was set at $500 cash only.”
Sheriff Degase said he would like to recognize the proactive work of all the deputies involved in this case.