A rural Mountain Home woman was booked into the Baxter County Detention Center Sunday morning, nearly seven weeks after the person she shares her residence with was arrested on theft charges. Twenty-six-year-old Leesha Benson is facing multiple drug charges after a substance she claimed was eye shadow tested positive for heroin.
According to a probable cause affidavit, a search warrant was served July 8 at a residence on Chaparral Drive by Lakeview and Mountain Home police officers, the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office, the 14th Judicial District Drug Task Force and Arkansas State Parks rangers. Thirty-year-old Kenneth Morosky, who shares the residence with Benson, was suspected of stealing a credit card from a vehicle in Lakeview and using it at various local retailers.
As law enforcement approached the residence, an officer reportedly observed two individuals in the home. Benson soon opened the door and denied Morosky was at the residence. When the officer stated he saw two people moving, she said she just returned from the grocery store and did not know who was there.
Officers observed a doorway leading to an attached garage. The door was locked from the garage side preventing officers from entering, and Morosky allegedly did not comply with orders to open the door. A K9 was deployed inside the garage through an unsecured window and secured the garage until an officer could safely enter the residence through the same window. Authorities opened a closet in the garage and located Morosky.
Kenneth Morosky
During a search, the dog located a plastic zip-lock bag in the bedroom. The bag was double bagged and contained a red powder weighing nearly 36 grams. Benson says the substance was eye shadow, but it later tested positive for heroin. Two syringes were also located and later tested positive for opiates. In addition, three smoking devices appearing to have been used for smoking marijuana were found in the garage closet.
Benson faces felony counts of possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of a Schedule I or II controlled substance with the purpose to deliver (heroin) and misdemeanor counts of possession of drug paraphernalia and obstructing governmental operations. Her bond is set at $20,000.
Morosky was arrested at the time on charges of breaking or entering, theft of property and probation violation. He is free on $25,000 bond.
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