Brandi Vanamberg entered a guilty plea to drug-related charges against her and was given five years in prison during a session of Baxter County Circuit Court Thursday.
The 45-year-old Vanamberg is serving time in the McPherson Unit of the state prison system on an earlier conviction.
In 2014, Vanamberg made the news when she escaped from the patrol car of a Baxter County deputy sheriff after being arrested in the Whiteville area. After Vanamberg was placed in hand restraints and put into the vehicle, she asked the deputy to retrieve personal property she had stored under a bridge in the area.
The deputy agreed, and while he was under the bridge, Vanamberg was able to roll down the back window and, still in handcuffs, was believed to have climbed out of the car and run into a wooded area west of the roadway.
Vanamberg’s description was put out by the sheriff’s office, but a search of the area did not immediately result in her capture. A resident of the area reported to law enforcement he had seen a woman matching Vanamberg’s description come out of the woods, climb onto the back of a motorcycle and leave the area down State Highway 126.
According to a news release distributed by Sheriff John Montgomery at the time, Vanamberg surrendered herself at the county jail the day after she fled from the deputy’s vehicle. Additional charges were filed against her as a result of running from the deputy’s custody.
Vanamberg’s current legal troubles began April 3rd when officers went to a residence along State Highway 126 North to conduct a compliance visit on two males who were both on probation at the time. Vanamberg and another female were also found at the residence and arrested.
The officers reported finding a substance field testing positive for methamphetamine, as well as paraphernalia used for the ingestion of the drug at the home. During her sentencing at Thursday’s court session, 14th Judicial District Deputy Prosecutor Kerry Chism told Judge John Putman the home in which Vanamberg was arrested was not hers, and she had apparently only gone there to use methamphetamine with the residents.
WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady® NSI