Driver charged with drug possession after traffic stop

During a traffic stop of a Ford F-150 pick-up truck that had an inoperable tag light, the driver, David Wayne Allen, 39, of Crestview, “seemed very nervous.”

As Allen fumbled in his wallet and with items in his vehicle when asked for his license and registration, the officer called for backup.

With the arrival of a second officer, the first officer returned to his patrol car to write a citation for the broken light.

The officer reported, “I then heard a loud thumping noise, and when I looked up,” he saw the second officer “engaged in a physical altercation” between the second officer and Allen.

When Allen refused to stop after several commands and warnings from both officers, the responding officer deployed his Taser M26, striking Allen in the back.

Allen was then subdued. Crestview Fire Department and Okaloosa EMS responded to assure he had not been injured.

The second officer explained that Allen began physically resisting his attempts to search the vehicle. Allen dropped a white substance to the ground that he then tried to destroy by grinding it into the pavement with his foot, according to the report.

When the substance tested positive for crack cocaine, Allen was arrested and charged with possession of cocaine and resisting an officer with violence.