Fake checkpoint leads to real arrests
Posted: April 5, 2015 - 4:00am

PANAMA CITY, Fla. (AP) -- Inundated by spring break chaos and short on patrol officers, the Bay County Sheriff's office hopes to curtail the flow of drugs to area beaches by using a fake checkpoint. A sign for a drug checkpoint on a main highway entering Bay County is not what it seems. There is no checkpoint, but officers monitor the behavior of passing motorists to see if they throw drugs or guns out the window when they notice the sign. Major Tommy Ford says officers can initiate a traffic stop based on that suspicious behavior. The fake checkpoint had been open for only a couple of hours Friday, but officers had already recovered drugs and made two arrests.