By Dalia Bautista Rodriguez
SACRAMENTO- Ricardo Rios, in testimony heard here in Sacramento County Superior Court this week, picked the wrong time to fall asleep—he was found passed out in his vehicle in a Chick-fil-A parking lot with 132 tablets of oxycodone and 127.55 grams of marijuana, as well as lots of other incriminating evidence in his possession.
Officer Jason Miller received a call from the Chick-fil-A manager on March 2 at 4:52 p.m. because a male in his twenties was passed out in his running vehicle.
When Officer Miller approached the vehicle, the defendant was found in the driver’s seat while the vehicle was running. He looked around the vehicle and found a clear plastic bag with 127.55 grams of marijuana inside of it.
A record check came back with the information that Rios was on an informal search probation. Officer Miller then called another officer to the scene and began to wake the defendant up, and detained him.
Rios stated that there was a BB gun inside his vehicle. When conducting the search, Miller found a black BB gun under the driver’s seat and in the driver’s door pocket he located 70 white, 10-milligram tablets that he identified as oxycodone. He also said the 127.55 grams of marijuana is not a usable amount and it is consistent with a dealer.
In the center of the console, Miller said he located 62 blue, 30-milligram tablets also identified as oxycodone. Oxycodone is legally prescribed to take one to two pills a day by a doctor for 
pain as needed.
Officer Miller also found $1,106 dollars located in the coin tray under the steering wheel. In total there were 132 tablets of oxycodone.
Officer Miller also located a black cellphone that was in the passenger seat of the vehicle. When he was securing the cellphone, a message popped up stating that the person had just finished trimming. Officer Miller believed the message indicated that Ricardo Rios was in contact with a marijuana cultivator or grower.
Another cellphone was located, and Officer Jason Miller is familiar with marijuana dealers owning two phones, one for business and the other for personal use. When he searched the trunk of the vehicle, he found USPS shipping boxes and a clear plastic turkey bag.
Officer Jason Miller indicated that shipping boxes are usually used by dealers to ship marijuana for a higher price and that turkey bags are usually utilized to help hide the smell of marijuana.
The officer testified that, while another officer began to transport Rios to jail, Rios became uncooperative. He tried to get out of the patrol vehicle and was given multiple commands to cooperate but kept continuing with his acts. They could not get him to sit inside the vehicle, and eventually pulled him out and put him down and used a wrap device to secure him and place him in the patrol vehicle.
Judge Kevin McCormick stated that there was sufficient evidence against the defendant and this case was on track for a trial. Rios entered a not guilty plea, and the trial is set for April.
Dalia Bautista Rodriguez is a third year- transfer at UC Davis and majoring in Community & Regional Development. She is originally from Guadalupe, CA.
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