Rock Hill driver had potato chip container in his car. Inside wasn’t chips, cops say

A traffic stop in Rock Hill Tuesday turned into an arrest of a man on probation who had ecstasy and marijuana inside a Lay’s potato chip container in his car, police said.

Meshach Alexander Johnson, 26, of Rock Hill was charged with trafficking ecstasy and possession of marijuana with intent to distribute after the 8:40 p.m. traffic stop, Rock Hill Police Department officers said in an incident report.

After police pulled Johnson over officers saw “in plain sight” several baggies in the car that officers said their training shows can be used for packaging drugs, the report stated.

Johnson declined to allow police to search the 2007 Chrysler 300 car, the report states. But officers found out Johnson was on probation and that gave officers the right to search the vehicle, the report said.

In the car officers found a large “Lay’s” chip container with smaller containers inside, police said. One of the interior containers had 160 doses of ecstasy inside, and the other contained about 11 grams of marijuana, police said.

Police found about 4 more grams of marijuana in Johnson’s pants pocket, officers said.

Ecstasy, also called Molly, MDMA and other street names, is an illegal recreational drug. The drug, initially developed for psychiatric therapy, alters mood and perception, producing feelings of increased energy, pleasure, emotional warmth, and distorted sensory and time perception, according to the federal government National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Johnson has two weapons convictions in York County from January 2017 where he was given a youthful offender sentence and probation, court records show. He also was convicted of marijuana possession in Tega Cay municipal court in May 2017, records show.