The Coahoma County Sheriff’s Office is cautioning residents to be sure of where their home-baked desserts are coming from after a raid earlier this week at a dorm room on the campus of Coahoma Community College.
Hardest Vaughn, a 19-year-old student from Southaven, was arrested Monday and charged with possession of a controlled substance and possession of a firearm while on a college campus.
Vaughn, who was lodged in the Coahoma County Jail in Clarksdale, is expected to make his initial appearance on the combined felony charge in Coahoma County Court in Clarksdale at 1 p.m. Wednesday, April 3.
Among the items confiscated in Monday’s search warrant were firearms (including a pistol with an extended-round magazine and a rife with a 30-round magazine), as well as knives and baking goods. Police believe Vaughn was baking cookies and brownies and lacing the desserts with THC, the main intoxicating ingredient in marijuana.
Chief Deputy Leon Williams, who heads up the special operations narcotics unit at the sheriff’s office and previously served for many years in the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics, said it was the first time he’d seen something like this.
“This is my first time experiencing this, and I’ve been in law enforcement since 1982,” said Williams, who said police believe Vaughn was selling the items to people in Clarksdale and Coahoma County.
“We want to make sure that the community is educated,” he said. “These are just chocolate chip cookies and brownies. They look harmless.”
Master Sgt. Will Rooker, the public information officer for the Coahoma County Sheriff’s Department, said the items confiscated will be sent to the state crime lab for testing to determine how much THC was in each of the items. He said the case is an ongoing investigation.
Williams praised the assistance of the Coahoma Community College police department, as well as the school’s faculty and staff, in assisting in the arrest and the execution of the search warrant.
In a statement released Tuesday afternoon, CCC president Valmadge Towner said, "Through anonymous tips and undercover investigations, our campus police department, in collaboration with the Coahoma County Sheriff's Department, was able to confiscate contraband from a dormitory student without incident on April 1, 2019.
"Please be mindful that guns and illegal drugs are not permitted on the campus of Coahoma Community College," Towner said. "All violators of this policy will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law."
Williams said police had been tracking Vaughn for approximately two weeks on his Facebook and Snapchat social media accounts prior to Monday’s search warrant.
