HOUSTON — A Texas man was charged with possessing nearly half a pound of methamphetamine after deputies mistook kitty litter in his car for the drug, KTRK reports.
On Dec. 5, 24-year-old Ross LeBeau was arrested during a traffic stop after deputies found the kitty litter inside a sock. Deputies tested the substance twice and it came up positive for meth.
On Wednesday, the case was dismissed after a retest determined it was not meth.
LeBeau says the sock was given to him by his father to keep his windshield from fogging up. His sister also received one.
Even after the ordeal, LeBeau only asks for one thing: an apology.
“I would like an apology,” he said. “I was wrongly accused and I’m going to do everything in my power, with my family’s backing, to clear my name.”
The Harris County Sheriff’s Office released a statement on the incident:
The Harris County Sheriff’s Office deputies stopped Mr. LeBeau for a traffic offense on December 5, 2016 at 4:30 p.m. During that initial stop the deputies detected a strong odor of Marijuana emitting from his vehicle. Mr. LeBeau was question and admitted to having marijuana in the console of his vehicle.
The drugs were recovered and in the process of inventorying his vehicle a substance was found wrapped in one sock in his vehicle. Mr. LeBeau was questioned about the contents at which time he indicated that he had no idea what it was. The deputies followed proper procedures and field tested the substance on two separate occasions which field tested positive for methamphetamines, notified the District Attorney’s Office who accepted charges for possession of controlled substance of 200 grams and Mr. LeBeau posted bond and was released.
During the investigation Mr. LeBeau failed to identify the substance and later, after being released indicated on social media that the substance was cat litter that he kept in a sock in his vehicle.
Regarding this incident all indication shows that the deputies followed basic procedures and followed established protocol related to this incident. Because of the established procedures in place and this contraband was submitted to the Institute of Forensic Science it was determined not to be methamphetamine and charges were dismissed.
