Charlotte man found asleep in car with gun in lap, drugs, York County deputies say
A Charlotte man found asleep at a York County, S.C., gas station with a loaded gun in his lap, has been arrested and charged with drug trafficking, deputies said.
Manzel Leonte Hancock, 23, is charged with trafficking Ecstasy, possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, and illegal carrying of a pistol, according to police and jail records.
Hancock was arrested Friday morning by York County Sheriff’s Office deputies and agents with the York County drug enforcement unit, said Trent Faris, sheriff’s office spokesman.
Officers were called to a gas station/convenience store on U.S. 21 in Fort Mill shortly before midnight Thursday after an employee saw a person asleep in a vehicle in the store parking lot, according to a sheriff’s office incident report.
Deputies said in their report that they arrived and found Hancock with a pistol that was loaded with 12 bullets.
Inside the car police from the drug unit and sheriff’s office found marijuana and 161 Ecstasy pills, the report stated.
Ecstasy is also known as MDMA. According to the federal government National Institute on Drug Abuse, Ecstasy is a synthetic drug that alters mood and perceptions. It is “chemically similar to both stimulants and hallucinogens, producing feelings of increased energy, pleasure, emotional warmth, and distorted sensory and time perception.”
The drug institute also states: “MDMA was initially popular in the nightclub scene and at all-night dance parties (“raves”), but the drug now affects a broader range of people who more commonly call the drug Ecstasy or Molly.”
A conviction for trafficking Ecstasy in South Carolina carries a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, state law shows.
Hancock remains in the York County jail under a $26,000 bond, according to court and jail records.
