SIDNEY — A Lexington, Kentucky, man was arraigned this morning in Sidney Municipal Court on one count of possession of criminal tools, a fifth-degree felony, and one count of possession of drugs, a second-degree felony.

Mario Hixon, 28, was being held on a $20,000 cash-surety bond in the Shelby County Jail after he was stopped Thursday afternoon with $27,000 worth of prescription pain pills.

He was pulled over for speeding and following too close by Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers as he was headed south on Interstate 75 in Shelby County.

When they became suspicious, they called in a drug dog. The search resulted in the discovery of approximately 1,157 oxycodone pills hidden in the trunk, and a child safety seat troopers described as not appearing to have been used for a child.

Troopers said Hixon was headed from Detroit to the Kentucky/Tennessee area with the pills, which are related to the heroin epidemic with pills driven in bulk across the country for resale.