Feb. 15—A Decatur man with a lengthy criminal record faces a resisting arrest charge in Hartselle after running into the woods following a traffic stop last week and soon will face warrants for drug possession, according to an affidavit by a Morgan County sheriff’s deputy.
At the time of the incident, Matthew Denzel Mosley, 29, was serving a sentence for possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, but was placed under the supervision of Community Corrections instead of prison.
According to the affidavit, Deputy Caleb Couch was patrolling U.S. 31 when he noticed a Dodge Charger with no tag lights headed south. Couch said he initiated a traffic stop on the vehicle near U.S. 31 at Peach Orchard Road Northwest.
Couch asked the driver, Mosley, for his driver’s license, registration and vehicle registration and Couch said Mosley “seemed to struggle” when locating his credentials.
“Deputy Couch also noticed Mr. Mosley did not make a lot of eye contact throughout the conversation about the car, where he got the car and where he was going/coming from,” the affidavit said.
Couch then asked Mosley to step outside his vehicle to further question him and said Mosley was reluctant to step out. After Mosley stepped out of his vehicle, Couch said he asked Mosley if he could frisk him and Mosley became “argumentative.”
Couch said Mosley finally complied to being frisked but denied officers consent to search his vehicle. The affidavit said after Couch’s K-9 alerted officers to the odor of narcotics, Couch conducted a probable cause search of Mosley’s vehicle and located a jar in a lunchbox in the back right passenger floorboard with 22.96 grams of marijuana inside.
“As deputies went to detain Mr. Mosley, Mr. Mosley jerked away from Deputy Couch and fled on foot,” the affidavit said. “Deputies chased Mr. Mosley across Hwy. 31 into the woods across the street. Deputy Couch deployed his taser … . The probes made contact with Mr. Mosley in the mid-section of his back. Mr. Mosley still continued to run on foot into the woods where deputies were able to catch Mr. Mosley after he fell.”
After Mosley was detained, the affidavit said Couch continued searching Mosley’s vehicle and located a cigarette packet in the same lunchbox where the marijuana was found that contained a “white, crystal-like substance” inside it. Couch said he then field tested the substance and it was positive for methamphetamine, weighing 10.1 grams.
Couch then charged Mosley with resisting arrest and attempting to elude a police officer, according to the affidavit, and said warrants for narcotics possession will be issued for Mosley at a later date.
An arraignment is scheduled for Mosely on both current charges on April 17 in District Judge Shelly Waters’ courtroom, according to court records.
In the affidavit, Couch said Mosely had a long history of drug charges, resisting arrest and attempting to elude.
Mosely was charged with third-degree burglary in November 2013 after allegedly breaking into a residence in Southeast Decatur and stealing $80. He pleaded guilty.
In April 2014 Mosely pleaded guilty to drug possession.
Mosely was arrested and charged in April 2018 with unlawful breaking and entering a vehicle after allegedly breaking into a 2006 Toyota 4Runner in Southwest Decatur and stealing a Pioneer amplifier and JL Audio subwoofer and the vehicle’s owner said the dash was “removed and damaged.”
According to a police affidavit, investigators found a cigarette, flashlight, screwdriver and cellphone charger that didn’t belong to the owner inside the vehicle. The evidence was sent for fingerprint testing, which identified Mosley’s DNA on the cigarette. He pleaded guilty.
On April 30, 2019, Mosely was charged with second-degree assault after allegedly stabbing a woman twice in the driveway of his Decatur residence at Eighth Street Southwest, according to a Decatur police detective’s affidavit. The affidavit said the woman had a “stab wound in her left hip and deep laceration to her left leg.” The case was dismissed when the victim failed to appear at trial.
On Oct. 30, 2023, Mosely was charged with unlawful possession or receipt of controlled substances after being found during a traffic stop with a distributable amount of methamphetamine, a firearm, synthetic marijuana, marijuana, prescription drugs and drug paraphernalia, according to a Decatur police detective’s affidavit. He pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute and as part of the plea agreement various other pending cases were dismissed. He was sentenced to 24 to 36 months in Community Corrections in August 2024.
— wesley.tomlinson@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2442.