One Bad Day

Routine traffic stop turns into laundry list of charges for West Memphis woman

ralphhardin@gmail.com Very few of us can say we’ve never been pulled over by the police. It happens to even the most lawabiding drivers eventually — a speeding ticket, a rolling stop, or maybe just a friendly heads up that a tail light is out.

In most cases, we present our license and registration and accept our fate with a shrug — you were speeding after all, right? But sometimes a routine traffic stop can turn into something much, much worse. Such was the case for Nyjeria Cox, a 22-year-old West Memphis woman. On Nov. 9, Cox was pulled over by local law enforcement for careless and prohibited driving, as well as for operating a motor vehicle in unsafe mechanical condition, itself a moving violation. While the exact nature of the mechanical deficiency was not made clear in the subsequent arrest report, it was just the beginning of a very bad run-in with the law.

It turns out Cox was also not wearing her seat belt, earning her another citation. Oh, and her driver’s license was suspended.

Also, she had no proof of the state-required liability insurance… and her tags were out of date and not registered to the vehicle she was driving.

It was at this point she became argumentative and noncompliant with the officers on the scene, refusing to cooperate, which netted Cox an obstruction of governmental operations charge. The reason for her unwillingness to cooperate became clearer when it was learned that there was a warrant for her arrest for a

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Nyjeria Cox BAD DAY (cont.)

failure to appear charge.

It apparently was not Cox’s first brush with the law, as her missed court date also carried a charge for failure to comply with registration and reporting requirements from a previous incident.

Ultimately, Cox was also charged with disorderly conduct and arrested on a slate of no less than 11 charges and violations. She was taken to the Crittenden County Detention Center.

As of Thursday, she remains in custody at the jail and has not posted bond.