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Traffic violation leads to arrest of four on drug-related charges

John Clark
Kristopher D. Harris. Photo courtesy of Columbus Police Department

Columbus police arrested four people last week on felony charges after their vehicle was stopped for a minor traffic violation.

According to police reports, officers stopped the vehicle near 17th and Union streets at about 6:20 p.m. Wednesday evening. Police realized that the driver, 35-year-old Kristopher D. Harris, of Columbus, had a suspended driver’s license. A Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department police dog was called to the scene and alerted to the odor of narcotics in the vehicle, police say.

Officers discovered a glass smoking pipe containing methamphetamine, along with syringes, marijuana, other controlled substances and a .22 caliber rifle lodged between the driver’s door and seat. Harris was taken into custody along with his passengers, 31-year-old Cory R. Crowe, and 46-year-old Samantha L. Banks, both of Columbus and 36-year-old Winston C. Zink, of Nashville.

Charges included:

  • Harris: Possession of a Firearm by a Serious Violent Felon, Possession of a Controlled Substance, Possession of a Legend Drug, Driving While Suspended with a Prior Conviction.
  • Crowe: Possession of a Syringe
  • Zink: Possession of a Syringe, Possession of Methamphetamine, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.
  • Banks: Possession of Marijuana, Possession of a Controlled Substance, Possession of a Syringe.
Cory Crowe. Photo courtesy of Columbus Police Department.
Winston Zink. Photo courtesy of Columbus Police Department.
Samantha L. Banks. Photo courtesy of Columbus Police Department.