Early Police Chief David Mercer released information regarding an ongoing police investigation that led to the arrest of a Brownwood man who is suspected of transporting Ecstasy into the Brownwood & Early area.

22-year-old Charles Ransom Carroll was arrested and charged on Thursday with Manufacture or Delivery of a Controlled Substance in Penalty Group 2 > 1 gram and < 4 grams and for Possession of Marijuana < 2 oz, both in a Drug Free Zone.

Mercer said that Early Police Sgt. Shawn Dibrell and Brown County Sheriff’s Investigator Carlyle Gover initiated a traffic stop on Carroll in the 3600 block of Austin Ave. for a traffic violation.  According to Mercer, Carroll told the officers that he was returning to Brownwood from Austin where he had been celebrating his birthday.

The police report notes that Carroll appeared to be “overly nervous” during the stop.  The report states that when officers asked to see Carroll’s driver’s license, he reached for money in his wallet, and when he was asked for his proof of insurance, Carroll reached in his glove box and retrieved his Bible instead.

Police believed that Carroll may possibly be transporting illegal narcotics back from the Austin area, and officers asked for permission to search his vehicle in which Carroll denied according to Chief Mercer.  A short time later, Brown County Sheriff’s Office Deputy James Stroope arrived on scene with his K-9 partner, Izzy.  Mercer said that a positive alert was indicated on the vehicle from Izzy and officers searched the vehicle and located Marijuana and Ecstasy pills.  Carroll was then placed under arrest where he was booked into the Brown County Jail.