COVINGTON, Ga. – A Newton County sheriff’s deputy arrested a car wash operator in Porterdale Sunday morning after observing suspicious activity at a gas station following a traffic stop.

According to a NCSO incident report, 43-year-old Wilson Price III was taken into custody at the Chevron station on Broad Street after Deputy Timothy Dickerson observed what he described in his report as “some sort of hand to hand transaction between the driver and the operator of a hand car wash located beside the building.”

After Price reportedly consented to a search by Dickerson, the deputy located suspected cocaine in Price’s pockets. According to the report, Price also admitted to having marijuana sitting on an old gas pump beside the store.

A NCSO spokesman said the initial traffic stop was for laying drags (spinning the rear tires). The driver was given a traffic violation warning.

Price was transported to the Newton County Jail charged with possession of marijuana less than one ounce and possession of cocaine.