Cedartown Police got drugs and a gun off the street when they arrested a Rome man who tried to evade officers in a traffic stop for defective equipment, but was ultimately arrested without incident on Tuesday afternoon.

Police Chief Jamie Newsome reported that Marcus Montez Alford, 37, of a Rome address, was taken into custody around 3 p.m. after police spotted his car on South Main Street near Tony’s Tires, and were ready to pull him over for failure to maintain lane.

As an officer ran information on Alford’s car, the state criminal database came back with a warrant for his arrest. They sought to pull him over, but he tried turning down side streets until he ended up in the parking lot of Lee Brown Towing on Furnace Street when he stopped.

Newsome said he then tried to get out of his car and flee on foot, but officers were able to stop him before he got far and took him into custody without further incident.

The real discovery came after he was in cuffs and police began searching his car. Inside the vehicle, officers found several ounces of marijuana, along with ecstasy and a firearm.

He was booked into the Polk County Jail on the afternoon of March 7, where he remains with bond on mutliple felony and misdemeanor charges. Those include felonies for two counts of possession of ecstasy; two counts of marijuana – purchase, possession, manufacture, distribution or sale; possession of tools for the commission of a crime; possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm or knife during commission of or attempt to commit certain felonies. Alford also faces charges of defective equipment, failure to maintain lane and criminal trespass.