Full Notification

Saturday Morning Traffic Stop in Bluffton

At approximately 2:20 a.m. on Saturday, a Sheriff’s Office patrol deputy conducted a traffic stop on a Toyota Avalon on Fording Island Road in Bluffton. During the traffic stop, the driver, who would later be identified as 25-year-old Tyler Wimbush, provided a false name to the deputy. Following up on Wimbush’s suspicious behavior, K-9 Niko was deployed to sniff the Avalon for illegal drugs. Niko alerted on the Avalon, which indicated illegal drugs were inside. As a result, the Avalon was searched and distribution weights of cocaine and crack cocaine were found. During the search of the Avalon, deputies also found a loaded handgun under the driver's seat. In addition to the drugs found in the vehicle, Wimbush had a small amount of marijuana on his person. Wimbush was arrested and charged with Possession with Intent to Distribute Cocaine, Possession with Intent to Distribute Crack Cocaine, Unlawful carrying of a Handgun, Providing False Information to Law Enforcement and Simple Possession of Marijuana. Wimbush was transported to the Beaufort County Detention Center and incarcerated. Following Wimbush’s bond hearing on Saturday morning, he was released from the Detention Center on his own recognizance.

Sunday Night Suspicious Activity in Parking Lot of Walmart

The second incident occurred just prior to 7:00 p.m. last night, when deputies responded to a report of suspicious activity in the parking lot of the Bluffton Walmart. When they arrived, deputies observed a Toyota Camry occupied by several subjects parked in a handicapped space without the appropriate handicap placard. Deputies made contact with the subjects sitting inside the vehicle and observed paraphernalia associated with opioid use. Investigating further, deputies discovered a brown liquid in a syringe inside of the Camry and a plastic bag containing a white powdered substance inside the pants pockets of 36-year-old Nathan Smyth. The suspicious substances were field tested by deputies, who determined that the brown liquid inside the syringe was heroin and the white powdered substance on Smyth’s person appeared to be fentanyl. Smyth was arrested and charged with Possession with Intent to Distribute Heroin and transported to the Beaufort County Detention Center. As of the time of this advisory, Smyth remained incarcerated on a $10,000 bond. Smyth may face additional charges, as a more stringent analysis of the white powdered substance will be necessary to confirm its identity as fentanyl. That analysis will be performed at the Sheriff’s Office Forensic Services Laboratory.

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