A traffic stop on East Industrial Drive at 2:43 a.m. May 12 resulted in three of the four occupants in the vehicle being arrested, the male passenger on a misdemeanor traffic warrant, the driver on a misdemeanor evading charge and a woman on a controlled substance charge, according to police reports.
Cpl. Chris Rosamond stopped a Kia Forte for making a wide turn from East Shannon Road onto the Jefferson Street overpass, crossing the fog line and nearly striking the guardrail on the overpass. He continued over the bridge, then from the wrong lane turned west onto East Industrial Drive, Rosamond alleged in arrest reports. The man reportedly pulled to the right of the road, then back onto the road before pulling into a motel parking lot, continuing at a slow roll toward the building before stopping. The front passenger, identified as Amanda Shanks, could be seen reaching into the floorboard and looking around, as if concealing something.
The officer requested a back up unit as he approached the driver’s door. Hopkins County Sheriff’s Deputy Zack Horne arrived to assist. Information given by the driver regarding his travels and the two back seat passengers, conflicted; at one point he claimed to pair in the back seat to be friends and later said he didn’t know, Rosamond alleged.
The back seat passenger had an outstanding warrant, resulting in his arrest, Rosamond reported.
As Rosamond was writing a citation for the driver, HCSO Sgt. Scott Davis arrived to assist as well. Approximately 19 minutes into the stop, Rosamond alleged, the driver bolted, running around one corner of the motel. All three officers gave chase. The man was reportedly caught, restrained on the ground and arrested for evading them.
Rosamond ordered the three other occupants out of the vehicle and patted them down. Davis and Rosamond noted the front female passenger, identified as Amanda Shanks, had a bulge in her pants.
SSPD Police Officer Cleve “Buddy” Williams was called to bring police canine Kilo to the location. The dog sniffed around the vehicle and gave a positive alert for narcotics.
A female jailer was requested to do a thorough search of Shanks and the other female passenger while the officer searched the Forte. Williams allegedly located two spoons in the passenger door that had what appeared to be methamphetamine residue on them. The search of the female back seat passenger revealed no contraband, according to police reports.
A search of Shanks revealed the bulge to be a small black handbag which contained a substance packaged in a form that it was believed to be a controlled substance. The woman allegedly admitted the suspected substance was to be delivered to another person, Rosamond alleged in arrest reports. The substances tested negative as controlled substances, police alleged in reports. Shanks was arrested; the other female passenger was not, according to police reports.
The driver, a 20-year-old Sulphur Springs man, was arrested on a Class A misdemeanor evading arrest or detention charge at 2:43 a.m. May 12; he remained in the county jail late Monday morning in lieu of $2,000 bond on the charge, according to jail reports.
The front seat passenger, 30-year-old Amanda Shanks of Sulphur Springs, was arrested at 3:35 a.m. for unlawful delivery or manufacture with intent to deliver a simulated controlled substance, an offense punishable as a state jail felony, according to arrest reports. Shanks remained in the county jail Monday morning; her bond was set at $5,000 on the charge, according to jail reports.
The back seat male passenger, a 31-year-old Sulphur Springs man was taken into custody at 3:40 a.m. by SSPD Officer Chad Norris the warrant for leaving the scene of an accident; he was released from jail later Sunday, according to arrest and jail reports.
