Savannah Vance of Mountain Home was given 10 years probation and ordered into the 14th Judicial District Drug Court Program during a session of Baxter County Circuit Court Thursday.
Vance was one of several people to be put on probation during a court day that stretched to nearly 10 hours.
She was arrested after being stopped at a sobriety checkpoint set up along State Highway 126 North on September 10th last year.
Officers reported the strong odor of marijuana coming from the vehicle being driven by the 19-year-old Vance. She admitted that she had been smoking marijuana when she encountered the checkpoint and that she had thrown the joint onto the floor of the small Ford Ranger.
When being questioned by officers, Vance admitted that she had up to a half pound of marijuana in the truck. In addition, officers reported finding almost $1,000 in cash, 22.7 grams of hashish, digital scales and other paraphernalia used in the ingestion of illicit drugs.
A United States Postal Service mailer box in the bed of the truck contained the same type plastic bag in which the marijuana found in the truck was packaged. The box had been sent from an address in Santa Rosa, California.
Ashley Dodson of Midway was given six years probation after she pled guilty to drug-related charges in two cases.
The latest case was filed this month after the vehicle in which Dodson was a passenger was stopped by a Baxter County Deputy Sheriff. During the stop, the deputy noticed the 30-year-old Dodson “aggressively” stuffing something between the passenger seat and the center console with her left hand. The deputy located syringes and a small plastic bag containing suspected methamphetamine.
Gary Palmer of Flippin was given five years probation after he changed his plea to guilty on charges of commercial burglary and having contraband while an inmate in the Baxter County jail.
The 26-year-old Palmer was charged with a late October 2015 break-in at Yoshi’s Japanese Steak House. A window had been broken in the restaurant and approximately $600 in cash had been taken from a drawer in the manager’s office. Law officers were told that Palmer had recently worked in the restaurant.
When first questioned, Palmer denied any involvement in the break-in. However, a DNA profile obtained from blood at the scene came back to Palmer.
In addition to probation, Palmer was ordered to pay $2,300 in restitution.
Two other men were each given five years probation in unrelated cases.
Brian Hand of Mountain Home pled guilty to a number of charges stemming from a traffic stop in early September last year.
A Mountain Home police officer noticed that the vehicle was being driven in what was described as a very aggressive manner. The driver was not wearing a seatbelt and the vehicle’s windshield was broken in multiple locations.
After the vehicle was stopped, the driver was identified as the 57-year-old Hand. The officer noted that Hand appeared to be under the influence of a controlled substance.
During the stop, the MHPD drug dog was brought in and alerted at the driver’s door of Hand’s vehicle. As one of the officers attempted to open the vehicle’s door, Hand is said to have “made a dash” toward the passenger window of the truck and tried to reach inside for an unknown object. Officers had to briefly wrestle with Hand to restrain him. Officers then located a black vinyl zipper pouch containing four clear plastic bags all containing a crystalline substance with a total weight of 3.2 grams. The substance field tested positive for methamphetamine.
27-year-old Seth Withrow of Midway entered a no contest plea to charges that he had a controlled substance while an inmate in the Baxter County jail. A jailer reported observing suspicious activity inside a holding cell and went to check on Withrow and another inmate who were confined in the cell together.
The jailer found two type of pills hidden in the inmates’ socks — later identified as clonazepam and alprazolam, both Schedule IV controlled substances.
Eddie Williams of Midway entered a no contest plea to charges related to the theft of electric power from North Arkansas Electric Cooperative and was given three years probation.
The 30-year-old Williams had allegedly wired his live-in girlfriend’s trailer to another unit in the Midway Oaks Mobile Home Park. According to North Arkansas Electric, the power to the girlfriend’s trailer had been shut off due to non-payment.
Williams was sentenced under provisions of Act 346 meaning if Williams stays out of trouble during his probation, he can petition the court to have his record sealed.
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