AHOSKIE – Apparently, lesson number one fell on deaf ears.

For the second time this year, an Ahoskie man is facing drug charges following an arrest on Christmas Day.

Ahoskie Police Chief Troy Fitzhugh reported the arrest of 30-year-old Lavar Tivon Pillmon-Holley whose address was listed as 512 Pine Street.

This time around, Pillmon-Holley stands charged with felonious possession of marijuana with intent to sale and deliver, possession of drug paraphernalia and resist, delay and obstruct. He was placed in the Hertford County Jail under a $30,000 secured bond.

“Mr. Pillmon-Holley is no stranger to us,” Chief Fitzhugh said, referencing one of the largest drug busts in recent memory that occurred this past March.

In that case, Pillmon-Holley was one of two men charged with possession of seven grams of crack cocaine and over three pounds of marijuana.

“What really bothers me is that there are those who seem to have no regard for the law,” Chief Fitzhugh noted. “Those persons just continue to deal in narcotics without any thought to the circumstances they came face-to-face with earlier.”

The Chief added that he would like to see those repeat offenders taken off the streets for an extended period of time.

“We’ll continue in our efforts to rid our town of the poison these people spread, but it sure would make our jobs a bit easier to have those repeat offenders remain in jail and off our streets,” Chief Fitzhugh said.

In the latest case against Pillmon-Holley, he was a front seat passenger in a vehicle that was stopped on Christmas morning by Ahoskie Police Sgt. Andres Snape and Officer Chris Copeland.

In the officers’ report, it was noted that Pillmon-Holley was seen ripping open a clear plastic baggie and stuffing something in his mouth upon the traffic stop. He was also seen making what appeared to be an attempt to stuff something between the seat and the door.

Upon investigation, the officers opened the passenger’s side door. There, in plain view, was a plastic bag in Pillmon-Holley’s left hand, which he then threw into the driver’s lap. That baggie was later discovered to contain 13 smaller plastic baggies, each with marijuana inside.

Meanwhile, the officers had to deal with the fact that Pillmon-Holley had something in his mouth. After repeated demands to spit it out, the officers attempted to handcuff the suspect, at which time he resisted. Only after using their OC (pepper) spray did Pillmon-Holley spit out the substance, later determined as marijuana.

The driver of the vehicle was not charged.

“I would like to commend Sgt. Snape and Officer Copeland for a job well done,” Chief Fitzhugh concluded.