OFFICER CHARGED IN TEXAS DRUG HAUL

A brand-new traffic law in Texas led to drug charges Friday against a
Memphis police officer.

Terrance A. King, who patrols on the 5 p.m.-to-1 a.m. shift for the North
Precinct, was released on $50,000 bond Friday morning from the Bi-State
Justice Center Jail in Texarkana, Texas.

The 39-year-old officer was charged Friday in state court with possession
of 100 pounds of marijuana and possession of 2.2 pounds of cocaine.

The arrest started with a Texas traffic law that took effect Sept. 1:

If you pass an emergency vehicle stopped on the road or shoulder, you must
move over one lane if you can, or slow to at least 20 mph under the speed
limit.

The new law is designed to curb the number of officers and emergency
workers hit by passing cars, said Lt. Russ Couch of the Texas Department of
Public Safety's narcotics office.

Trooper Barry Washington had stopped another driver for a traffic violation
on Interstate 30 about 25 miles west of Texarkana early Wednesday, Texas
Highway Patrol Capt. Audra Livingston said.

King passed the trooper at 12:50 a.m., driving east in a 1995 gold Lexus 400.

The speed limit was 70 mph and King "just drove right next to the troopers
that were stopped," Couch said.

Washington pursued King and stopped him.

King's behavior - nervous and moody - made Washington suspicious, Couch said.

When Washington asked King where he'd been and where he was heading, King
gave inconsistent answers, Couch said.

King has been a Memphis officer since 1999. He was a Dallas police officer
from 1991 to 1999.

During the stop, he showed badges from both departments to the trooper.

"That's a good sign of nervousness right there," Couch said.

Suspicious, Washington asked if he could search the car. King said no.

So Washington called in one of the patrol's drug-sniffing Labrador retrievers.

Without touching the Lexus, the dog sniffed around and alerted officers by
scratching or barking, Livingston said.

That gave troopers probable cause to search.

They found the marijuana and cocaine in the trunk, Couch said.

State prosecutors will take the case to a grand jury.

Memphis police can't say whether King's case has any connection to recent
troubles in the department's property room, where drugs seized as evidence
were swiped and sold to dealers, spokesman LaTanya Able said.

Since he joined the Memphis department in August 1999, King has accumulated
five counts on his disciplinary record, according to his personnel file.

All but one were dismissed for "insufficient evidence" or because the
charge wasn't sustained.

But King, who earns about $43,000 a year, received a written reprimand
stemming from a May 2001 assault on his wife of 10 years.

She called police from their home, saying King had hit her in the mouth
during an argument.

Officers saw the woman's cut and swollen lip and arrested King. He denied
he hit her on purpose.

"You are expected to keep your private life unsullied as an example to
all," the reprimand states.

King received good marks in a 2002 job evaluation.

His supervisor wrote that King was a hard worker and showed intense
interest in his job and in trying to improve.

But the supervisor also wrote that King needed to familiarize himself with
city, state and federal laws, and police policies and procedures.

It was unclear Friday what disciplinary action awaits King here while the
criminal charges are pending.