LEWISTON, ID – A 24-year-old Lewiston man was arrested Wednesday after law enforcement officers allegedly found nearly half a pound of methamphetamine next to his passenger seat following a traffic stop. According to a Probable Cause Affidavit, Martin Acree was booked into the Nez Perce County Adult Detention Center on a charge of Trafficking Methamphetamine in Excess of 200 Grams. He was also charged with Felony Eluding in connection with an incident on October 12th.
Court documents say Acree was under surveillance as part of a narcotics investigation, specifically for the alleged dealing of meth and fentanyl in the Lewis-Clark Valley. Detectives had followed him to a parking lot in the 1200 block of 8th Street in Lewiston on October 12th. A short time later, Acree reportedly left the area, and a traffic stop was initiated for an expired vehicle registration.
“As [the officer] attempted to stop Acree, he rapidly accelerated his vehicle northbound on 6th Street to 7th Avenue. Due to the obvious danger to the public by Acree’s reckless driving, [he] immediately discontinued trying to stop him and turned off his emergency lights,” the affidavit says, adding that the officer estimated Acree‘s speed in excess of 50 mph on 6th Street through the college campus.
Detectives continued to follow Acree in unmarked cars and found that after the pursuit was discontinued, Acree reportedly slowed down and began following the rules of the road.
“Acree drove directly into Washington via the Interstate Bridge. At 5th Street and Bridge Street…[a] Clarkston Police Department [officer] tried to stop Acree again in [a] fully marked police car. Acree again accelerated to high rate of speed, causing [the officer] to discontinue,” the affidavit adds.
At about 1:37 a.m. Wednesday morning, a Lewiston Police officer conducted a traffic stop in the 100 block of Prospect Avenue on a green Ford Escape. Just prior to this stop, detectives were conducting surveillance in Clarkston and identified Acree as being in the car.
“Detectives asked [the officer] to stop the vehicle as there was probable cause to arrest Acree for the prior eluding,” according to the affidavit.
Acree, who was in the front passenger seat, was ordered out of the vehicle and was placed under arrest for the alleged eluding incident a week prior.
As the officer was completing a warning citation for the driver, the affidavit says Acree said he had something to tell him.
“Acree then told [the officer” that he had [a] bag in the pocket of the door panel in the car. Acree further said that the bag contained about [a] half pound of “meth.” Acree made these statements under [Miranda],” according to the affidavit.
Due to this statement, the car was searched.
“Officers found [a] grey zippered bag in the pocket of the door panel where Acree was sitting. Inside this bag was [a] sandwich sized Ziploc baggie that contained [a] large amount of crystalline substance believed to be methamphetamine. The methamphetamine was later weighed and found to have [a] product weight of about 207.7 grams,” the affidavit says, adding that by using a field test kit the product tested presumptive positive for methamphetamine.
