Man charged after being found with drugs; Suspect caught while changing tire
Published 10:37 am Monday, February 27, 2017
An Austin man was charged after being arrested when police found him changing a tire with more than 42.5 grams of marijuana and $2,327 in cash in the car.
Semaj Maurice Dow Jr., 19, was charged Friday in Mower County District Court with felony fifth-degree drug sale and a misdemeanor for possessing more than 1.4 grams of marijuana.
Dow was arrested around 3:45 a.m. Feb. 23 when Austin police officers observed two men changing a tire on a 2008 Chrysler Sebring at Bandshell Community Park.
Officers recognized Dow, who had a felony arrest warrant, as one of the men, though he initially said he wasn’t Dow.
But officers arrested Dow. They located two bags or marijuana — one containing 29.31 grams and the other containing 13.19 grams — and a methamphetamine pipe in the Sebring’s center console.
They also found $2,327 in Dow’s sock.
Dow was transported to the Mower County jail.
Dow was charged last May with felony theft for taking a vehicle without consent and gross misdemeanor theft for taking or transferring property without consent for taking a vehicle for a short joy ride to get back at the vehicle’s owner.
Dow was also involved in a February 2016 incident where gunshots were allegedly fired during a dispute over a woman.
He is next due in court for an initial appearance in the most recent drug case on March 9.