Bail is set at $50,000 for a man who allegedly had a combined total of 25.54 grams of fentanyl in his vehicle when a Napavine Police Department officer contacted him at a gas station on Sunday.
The officer reported that he contacted the man, identified as Austin Taylor Collins, 31, of La Center, at a gas station on Rush Road at approximately 7:55 p.m. on March 30 after someone reported he “appeared to be high,” according to Lewis County Superior Court documents.
Collins reportedly had his vehicle parked at a pump and was contacted while he was walking to his car from the gas station’s convenience store.
When asked if “there was anything illegal in his vehicle,” Collins reportedly said there was not.
The officer then reportedly “asked Collins not to lie to him,” at which point Collins allegedly admitted that there was a meth pipe in the center console.
Collins allegedly gave the officer consent to search his vehicle. Inside the vehicle, the officer reportedly found several glass smoking devices containing suspected meth residue, a glass jar containing a small amount of suspected meth and four baggies containing large amounts of suspected fentanyl.
The baggies were found inside “a pharmacy bottle hidden in a fuse panel under the dash left of the steering wheel,” according to court documents.
A black camera bag containing a digital scale was reportedly found in the backseat.
When questioned about the drugs, Collins allegedly “stated he dealt with his dealer by using his phone, which he would not agree to being searched,” according to court documents.
Charging documents filed in Lewis County Superior Court on Monday indicate that the officer has expressed intent to obtain a search warrant for the contents of Collins’ phone.
Due to the drugs found in the vehicle, Collins was charged Monday, March 31, in Lewis County Superior Court with one count each of possession of a controlled substance and possession of a controlled substance with intent to manufacture or deliver.
While Collins spoke at his preliminary hearing Monday to ask for release in order to deal with aspects of his life that are “crumbling” with him in custody, Lewis County Superior Court Judge Joely Yeager granted the prosecution’s request for $50,000 due to Collins’ extensive criminal history and the community risk posed by the large amount of drugs involved in this case.
“I don’t think you’re coming up on anything crumbling, Mr. Collins … but it has crumbled,” Yeager told Collins on Monday.
Arraignment is scheduled for Thursday, April 10.
