Two people from Cotter are facing a combined 18 felony drug charges following their arrest Wednesday by a task force lead by the Arkansas Department of Community Corrections special response team.
According to a Baxter County Sheriff’s Office incident report, the special response team convened at a residence along Harding Boulevard in Cotter in an attempt to locate 24-year-old Alicia Nicole Pierce who had outstanding felony warrants for failing to appear in court.
Officers made contact with the home owner, 54-year-old Mark Dohrman, on the back porch of the residence. Dohrman told the officers Pierce had been there the previous evening, but he had taken her to her mother’s home early that morning.
Two of the task force members asked to search the residence to confirm Pierce was not there. Dohrman first declined, but then consented to the search. Dohrman and the officers entered the residence and exited a short time later with the Cotter man in handcuffs. Pierce had been located inside.
A syringe was located in Dohrman’s boot. Small plastic baggies were in open view on a table in the living room. Other drug paraphernalia was located in the residence along with hydrocodone pills packaged for resale and a small quantity of marijuana and methamphetamine. Officers also located a .20 gauge shotgun in the room with the illegal narcotics.
Pierce did not appear to feel well. After telling officers she was fine, she was transported to the Baxter County Detention Center where she became ill. She was transported to Baxter Regional Medical Center for treatment of narcotics she has ingested.
Both Pierce and Dohrman are charged with nine felony offenses involving possession and drugs and drug paraphernalia, including with purpose to deliver, as well as simultaneous possession of drugs and firearms, hindering apprehension and proximity to certain facilities.
Baxter County Sheriff John Montgomery says the hydrocodone belonged to Dohrman, who had transferred possession of the drug to Pierce, who had consumed some of it. This transaction had taken place within proximity to the North Arkansas Youth Center, constituting a penalty enhancement.
Bonds for the two were set at $25,000 each. They are set to appear in Baxter County Circuit Court in June.
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