ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — Winnebago Deputies arrested Michael Crigler, 37, for allegedly throwing evidence in a trashcan.
On November 9th, around 8:43 p.m., deputies saw a silver Chevrolet Tracker without working tail lights leaving the Weston Hotel. Police followed and the suspect eventually pulled into the parking lot of the OYO hotel on 11th Street.
Officials said Crigler approached their squad car and asked why he was being stopped. When deputies started to leave their squad car, the suspect ran back to his Chevrolet, grabbed a bag and started to flee on foot, according to court records.
Authorities eventually took Crigler into custody after finding him sitting next to a tree near Samuelson Road and 11th Street. The witness told police that the suspect threw the bag into a white trash can in the hotel complex.
Deputies located the bag and found a handgun, cocaine mixed with fentanyl and over $400 in cash.
The suspect told police he was hired to move drugs for a dealer and did not know what was in the bag.