On 6/21/24, Mt. Carmel Police arrested Richard E. Stringfellow, age 49, of Mt. Carmel for Possession of Methamphetamine, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, and Unlawful Possession of Weapon by Felon following a traffic stop on Hydraulic Ave., just north of 5th Street, for committing multiple violations of the Illinois Vehicle Code while operating a gray 1987 Chevrolet truck.  During the stop, Ofc. Hopper and his K-9 Eleven responded to the scene and conducted a free air narcotics sniff around the truck.  In doing so, Eleven alerted to the presence of narcotics resulting in a search of the vehicle.  Officers discovered a towel that had two used narcotics pipes inside of it.  One of the pipes had approximately .2 grams of suspected methamphetamine inside of it. The suspected methamphetamine later field tested positive when tested.  Officers noted that Stringfellow attempted to take this towel with him when exiting the truck.  A further search of the vehicle led officers to locating a large knife with an 11-inch blade, 3 throwing hatchets and a wooden bludgeon style club. There items are unlawful for Stringfellow to possess due to his status as a convicted felon.  Stringfellow was placed under arrest and transported to the Wabash County Jail where he was charged accordingly and held pending a pre-trial release determination by the court.