WATERVILLE — A Spring Place man faces four charges, including possession of the hallucinogenic drug bath salts, after he was arrested twice in two days, according to police.

Jason Stephenson, 37, of 4 Spring Place, was first arrested early Thursday morning at 1:30 a.m. on Front Street on a charge of operating a vehicle with a suspended license, according to Deputy Chief Charles Rumsey.

While at the Waterville Police Department during the booking process, an officer found a small bag of pills in Stephenson’s pocket, Rumsey said.

The officer put the drugs on a table and continued the search process. While handcuffed, Stephenson lunged with an open mouth toward the pills and ate them, resulting in a falsifying evidence charge, Rumsey said.

“We took him to Maine General where he was medically cleared before he went to jail,” Rumsey said.

Stephenson was charged with operating after suspension, a Class E misdemeanor, and falsifying evidence, a Class D misdemeanor.

After making bail later Thursday, Waterville police searched Stephenson’s home early Friday morning at 2 a.m. to verify that he was abiding by his bail conditions and found hypodermic needles as well as a small amount of marijuana, according to Rumsey. Stephenson was arrested on a charge of violating the condition of his release and taken back to the Waterville Police Department.

During the booking process, officers discovered a folded dollar bill containing a white powder that was later determined to contain mephedrone, or bath salts, Rumsey said.

Stephenson was charged with violating the condition of his release, a Class E misdemeanor, and unlawful possession of a synthetic hallucinogenic drug, a Class C felony.

Stephenson remains at Kennebec County Jail, according to Rumsey, and has a court date for the first two misdemeanors at Waterville District Court on Nov. 5, and another court date for the felony and other misdemeanor in Kennebec Superior Court on Oct. 15.

Jesse Scardina — 861-9239
jscardina@mainetoday.com