Man tried to use cocaine during traffic stop, cops say

SEATTLE — Seattle police say a 73-year-old man was arrested after he tried to snort cocaine during a traffic stop.

Police say Officer Nic Abts-Olsen stopped a man driving a car with the headlights off Thursday night near Martin Luther King Jr. Way South and South Massachusetts Street.

During the stop, Abts-Olsen checked the man’s license and registration and says he startled the man when he returned to the vehicle, causing him to spill cocaine on his hands and the floor of the car.

Police say the man initially tried to brush away the white powder, denied it was cocaine and said he had vitamins in his possession.

Eventually, the man told police snorting cocaine in the middle of a traffic stop was perhaps a poor decision.

He was arrested for narcotics possession.