A man wanted as a probation absconder and a woman driving the vehicle they were in were arrested and charged on drug and other counts following a suspicious vehicle stop.

Lieutenant Shane Guyant of the Halifax County Sheriff’s Office said Lieutenant A. Cash on Saturday evening noticed a Toyota Prius parked near the intersection of Hinson and Key streets in Roanoke Rapids.

When Cash activated emergency lighting the driver of the vehicle, later identified as Samantha AnneMarie Pittman, began to move the vehicle.

With assistance from Sergeant D. Newsome, the vehicle was stopped.

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Officers learned the passenger, 31-year-old Matthew Franklin Butts of Roanoke Rapids, was wanted for absconding for a 2017 communicating threats conviction.

Guyant said Butts is a convicted felon for various charges including felony larceny, felony possession of stolen goods, and felony obtaining property by false pretense.  

A search of Butts and the vehicle he was seated in yielded a loaded revolver hidden under the passenger seat and an assortment of narcotics including MDMA and marijuana.  

Pittman, 31, of Roanoke Rapids, was discovered to be in possession of cocaine.

Both Butts and Pittman were arrested and taken to the Halifax County Magistrates Office.  

Butts faces the following charges:

Felony possession of schedule I – MDMA

Misdemeanor possession of marijuana

Misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia

Misdemeanor carrying a concealed weapon

Felony possession of a firearm by a felon

Absconder from probation

Pittman was charged with felony possession of schedule II

Butts received a $13,500 bond.  Pittman received a $1,000 bond and was released.  

Both have October 11 court dates.