Polk County Police spotted a man behind the wheel they knew well, and knew for a fact he was driving on an expired license when they pulled him over and ended with him in custody and admitting he had drugs in loaded syringes, according to a Polk County Police report.

David Joseph Richards, 41, of a Cedartown-area address, was behind the wheel of a green Ford F-150 driving on a license that expired in recent weeks when officers spotted him on Johnson Lake Road just after 1 a.m. on Thursday morning, February 6. Per the report, Richards turned into a driveway near Georgia Avenue when the traffic stop began, and initially attempted to get out of the truck.

When police came to the driver’s side door and ordered him out, he refused and began to struggle with officers, at one point he “grabbed a hold of the steering wheel and refused to get out.”

Other officers arrived to assist and got a handcuff on one wrist, then he was pulled from the truck and “escorted to the ground.”

The tussle with officers did cause a cut on Richards’ head, which he refused EMS treatment for at the scene.

Ahead of being searched, Richards admitted to having syringes with methamphetamine inside of his front pocket. Police found them, alongside a digital scale in one of his pockets.

A passenger with Richards was allowed to leave and given a ride home by Polk County Police, unable to take the truck because of their own suspended license.

Richards was taken to jail and charged with felony possession of methamphetamine, and misdemeanors including three counts of obstruction of law enforcement officers, possession and use of drug-related objects, and driving on an expired license.

He remained in custody on a $6,000 bond as of this posting.