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Pair held on felony drug possession charges

by Ralph Bartholdt Staff Writer
| February 14, 2018 12:00 AM

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Hicks

COEUR d’ALENE — A homeless, 22-year-old Coeur d’Alene man who had open sores on his stomach when he was arrested with methamphetamine and heroin will remain in jail on a $30,000 bond, according to reports.

Harrison Hicks was arrested last month at the Maverik gas station on the 6400 block of Ramsey Road after police responded to a call that an intoxicated, on-duty convenience store clerk was on the floor and unable to get up.

Coeur d’Alene police arrested the clerk, Bradly Martell, and noted in a police report drug injection track marks on his arm, and that he was tripping on drugs and not able to function.

As police frisked Martell before taking him into custody outside the 24-hour gas station, Hicks, whom Martell called a friend, got out of the back seat of Martell’s car and approached officers.

Police said Hicks admitted to having syringes and told police he was a diabetic.

Officers saw a loaded syringe inside the vehicle and after checking the car found methamphetamine, marijuana and heroin, as well as a cooker used to prepare drugs for injection, according to a report.

Hicks, who was also taken into custody, had an open sore on his stomach that he said was from a bad insulin injection.

Slim and unkempt, Hicks wore orange jail pajamas when he appeared before Magistrate Judge Robert Caldwell Friday in the courtroom at the Kootenai County Jail. His defense attorney, Jay Logsdon, asked the court to reduce a $30,000 bond to assist in the release of his client. Hicks, who has lived in the area more than a decade, had ties to the community and family here, Logsdon said. He had, however, been homeless and “was coming in out of the cold, so to speak.”

Calling the circumstances of Hicks’ arrest “spooky,” deputy prosecutor Jed Whitaker objected to a bond reduction.

“There was heroin everywhere,” Whitaker said. “There was a cooker in the car and needles all over.”

A police officer noted in the report that syringes were found in every pocket of a backpack officers assigned to Hicks.

Calling IV drug use “as bad as it gets,” Whitaker said a release for Hicks shouldn’t be considered.

“He’s recently off the street,” Whitaker said. “Typically we send people on riders (prison rehabilitation programs) because IV use is so nasty.”

Both Martell and Hicks are charged with felony drug possession. Their preliminary hearings are slated Feb. 23 in First District Magistrate Court.

Logsdon told the court Friday that what officers considered heroin may have been insulin used to treat Hicks’ diabetes.