FAKE COCAINE LEADS TO CHARGES

Talk about a poor man's drug. It was only a little chunk of soap that a
Cookeville man had wrapped in plastic in his pocket when he was arrested
yesterday, police said.

But it looked like a "rock" of crack cocaine, and the arresting officer
promptly charged Larry Hardy with possession of counterfeit illegal drugs.

It happened about 3:30 p.m. Wednesday on E. 15th St. when Cookeville Police
Officer Brent Anderson happened to notice Hardy standing on the street.

The officer, recognizing Hardy (who has a lengthy record of various
criminal charges), radioed for a quick check of any outstanding warrants on
him.

He learned that Hardy, 46, who lives on E. 15th St., was wanted on a court
pickup order for failure to appear in a previous court matter.

The officer then arrested Hardy, handcuffed him, and searched him.

"I found what appeared to be a crack rock in his left front pocket," the
officer's report says. "Mr. Hardy stated that the object was only soap."

And indeed, the "object" field tested negative for crack cocaine, the
officer said.

But it is illegal to have even fake illegal drugs, and the officer took a
warrant charging Hardy with "possession of counterfeit Schedule II" drugs.

The warrant alleges that Hardy had "a piece of soap wrapped in a plastic
bag that resembled crack cocaine."

What was the previous court case on which Hardy was wanted?

Back in July, he had been sentenced to eight hours of community service
work for a public intoxication conviction.

He was told that if the community service was not completed by a certain
date, he was to appear in court again on Sept. 10.

On that date, he failed to appear, and a "capias," a court order for his
arrest, was issued.

He was booked at the Putnam jail yesterday, and bond was set at $1,000 on
the fake drug charge. He is set to appear in General Sessions Court on that
charge on Oct. 1.