Traffic stop leads to arrest on meth charge

Jose Manuel Irizarry Rivera; photo courtesy of Columbus Police Dept.

A Columbus man was arrested after a traffic stop Tuesday afternoon. Lt. Matt Harris, spokesman for the Columbus Police Department, says that at approximately 4:40 p.m., Officer Drake Maddix witnessed the driver of a moped fail to properly signal a turn at 15th Street and Union Street. When he stopped the driver, 33-year-old Jose Manuel Irizarry Rivera, Maddix determined that Rivera’s license was suspended. When Rivera was taken into custody, Maddix allegedly found methamphetamine in Rivera’s pants pockets. Rivera is facing preliminary charges of Possession of Methamphetamine and Driving while Suspended with a Prior Conviction.