COVINGTON - A Ponchatoula man was arrested Thursday morning after he was caught bringing drugs into the St. Tammany Parish Justice Center.
According to James Hartman, spokesman for the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office, when Kendrick Hudson, 26, of 125 Camp Street, Ponchatoula, arrived at the Justice Center At approximately 9 a.m. Thursday morning he emptied his pockets into a plastic basket and sent the receptacle through the X-ray machine as requested.
Among the contents he empty from his pockets was a matchbox.
Observing the matchbox, deputies manning the X-ray machine picked it up and opened it, finding a small plastic bag containing five rocks of crack cocaine.
According to Hartman, Hudson told the deputies that he had misplaced his cigarette lighter this morning, but when he emerged from his car in the Justice Center parking lot he found "a box of matches was at his feet like pennies from heaven." Hudson reportedly told the deputies that he put the matchbox in his pocket without looking in the box.
However, Hartman said, they did not believe him, and his story further unraveled when deputies discovered two hydrocodone pills, one in each of is front pocket. Hudson was charged with possession with intent to distribute a controlled dangerous substance and possession of a schedule III narcotic, and he was booked into the St. Tammany Parish Jail. Hartman said Hudson told the deputies that he was coming to the Justice Center to meet a family member who was attending a meeting of some sort.
"On his next visit," Hartman said, "he'll have to appear before a judge."