LEONARDTOWN, MD (May 10, 2024) – St. Mary’s County Sheriff's Office Deputies recovered drugs and cash following two separate traffic stops.

 

On Wednesday, May 8, 2024, Deputies from the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office Patrol and Criminal Investigations Divisions conducted a vehicle stop in the area of Briarwood Court and Fox Ridge Road in Lexington Park, MD, for equipment and traffic violations.

During the traffic stop, the operator and sole occupant, Rico Kinta Keyes, Jr., 29, of Lexington Park, MD, fled on foot into a nearby wooded area, where he was quickly apprehended. A subsequent search warrant was conducted on a nearby residence in relation to Keyes and this traffic stop.

Deputies located cocaine and crack cocaine packaged in quantities and a manner indicative of an intent to distribute, United States currency, ammunition, and additional firearms-related evidence as a result of this investigation. 

Keyes was arrested and transported to the St. Mary’s County Detention and Rehabilitation Center (SMCDRC) and charged with CDS: Possession – not marijuana, CDS: Possession with intent to distribute cocaine, and Resisting Arrest.

 

At approximately 10:41 p.m., on May 8, 2024, Deputy First Class Tyler Westphal initiated a traffic stop on a 1993 Ford Taurus at the intersection of Lexwood Drive and Lexwood Court in Lexington Park, MD, for a traffic violation and for operating a vehicle registered as a “historic motor vehicle” in violation of Mayland Traffic Law. Upon approaching the vehicle, Deputy Westphal saw suspected cocaine in the center console area and initiated a probable cause search of the vehicle. Suspected crack cocaine and suspected buprenorphine were located in the vehicle.

 

The driver of the Ford was identified as Charles Edwin Compton, 38, of Lexington Park, MD. Compton was arrested and transported to SMCDRC and charged with two counts of CDS: Possession – not marijuana.