An Athens woman who local police last week arrested for speeding and breaking other motor vehicle laws was later handed over to federal authorities due to a pending drug case.
When her car was stopped last week, 20-year-old Toni Yolanda Riden was free on bond from an indictment handed down in U.S. District Court charging her with possession of cocaine. She and codefendant Rico Antonio Barnett are awaiting sentencing after they both struck plea bargains with prosecutors last month, according to court records.
Riden and Barnett were arrested last May after Athens-Clarke County police responded to a reported dispute between a man and woman in a car at Kangaroo on U.S. Highway 29 North. In the car, police said they found marijuana and cocaine, and Barnett had a stolen handgun which he tried to conceal behind the convenience store.
Though Riden was indicted in federal court on just a cocaine possession charge, Barnett was charged with possession with intent to distribute both cocaine and marijuana and also possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense.
Other documents filed in U.S. District Court also indicate just seven days after he and Riden were arrested, Riden shot a man in Athens while he was free on bond.
Barnett has been held without bail since the August shooting incident in Athens.
Riden was granted bond on both the local and federal charges.
She was rearrested last Tuesday by an Athens-Clarke County police officer who was conducting traffic enforcement on Hull Road, and he stopped Riden's car after it was clocked traveling at 78 mph.
After initially pulling her car to the side of the road, Riden reportedly began to speed away but then pulled into a driveway before the officer had a chance to return to his patrol car to give chase. Riden admitted she planned to flee but had second thoughts, according to the report filed by the officer.
Deputy U.S. Marshals took custody of Riden on Friday, and court records indicate she was scheduled to have a bond revocation hearing later that same day.
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