Two FM 1567 traffic stops conducted by deputies overnight Friday resulted in controlled substance arrests, according to sheriff’s reports. Sulphur Springs police also arrested one person on a controlled substance charge Sunday night, arrest reports noted.
Late Night Stop
The first of the FM 1567 traffic stops occurred shortly before 10:20 p.m. Friday, March 12, 2021, on FM 1567 west at County Road 1137. Hopkins County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Aaron Chaney reported stopping a Dodge pickup or speeding . Upon contact with the driver, Chaney recognized him as Kelly Wayne Gathright, a 49-year-old Mabank man he’d take into custody during a previous encounter for a narcotics offense. Thus, the deputy had Gathright step out of the Ram 1500 to speak with him and obtained the man’s permission to search the white truck, the HCSO officer noted in arrest reports.
Chaney found a small amount of a crystal-like substance he suspected to be methamphetamine in a cellophane wrapper inside of a clipboard container, the deputy alleged in arrest reports. Gathright denied ownership of the the substance and was taken into custody.
Deputy Chris Baumann then arrived to assist at the scene. Chaney noticed the upholstery on the driver’s seat of the truck to be loose. When Chaney lifted the upholstery skin, he found a burned glass pipe of the kind commonly used to smoke methamphetamine with residue underneath it. Next to the pipe, Chaney located a bag with suspected methamphetamine and a box with a digital scale, the deputy alleged in arrest reports. The contraband found during the FM 1567 traffic stop was secured as evidence and Gathright was arrested at 10:51 a.m. March 12 for possession of a controlled substance. Chaney took Gathright to jail while Baumann completed an inventory of the truck, which was then impounded.
The substance field tested positive for methamphetamine and weighed 3.6 grams, thus, Gathright was booked into Hopkins County jail at 12:31 a.m. Saturday, March 13, 2021, according to jail reports.
The 48-year-old Mabank man remained in Hopkins County jail Monday morning, March 15, in lieu of a $30,000 bond on the possession of 1 gram or more but less than 4 grams of a Penalty Group 1 controlled substance charge, according to jail reports.
According to jail and prior arrest records, Chaney did stop Gathright on Dec. 19, 2020, for driving the pickup over the white lane marker into the roadside grass. Methamphetamine was found in his sweatshirt pocket and digital scales and two burned glass pipes were found in the truck, Chaney alleged in the 2020 arrest report. He was booked into the county jail early Dec. 20; he was released from the county jail on the Dec. 23, 2020, on a $30,000 bond on the charge, according to jail reports. Gathright was indicted on the December controlled substance charge during the March 5, 2021 Grand Jury session, according to court reports.
Early Morning Stop
The second of the FM 1567 traffic stops occurred just before 1 a.m. Saturday, March 13, 2021, on FM 1567 west at County Road 1118. Hopkins County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Chris Baumann reported stopping a blue Chevrolet pickup for swerving from the fog line across the center line and back again. Upon contact with the occupants, Baumann noted both the driver and passenger to appear noticeably nervous. The driver shook and wouldn’t make eye contacts while the passenger was standoffish when spoken, according to arrest reports.
When asked if there was anything illegal in the Silverado, the 57-year-old passenger denied there was. After being refused permission to search the truck, Baumann called for a police canine at the location. The police K-9 gave a positive alert on the truck during a free air sniff search, resulting in a probable cause search, the deputy noted in arrest reports.
Baumann and Sgt. Scott Davis reported finding a bag containing a crystal-like substance believed to be methamphetamine, a glass pipe used for smoking meth with two large unsmoked shards of suspected meth in its bowl and drug paraphernalia in the vehicle. When asked about the contraband, 57-year-old Scott Arthur Gorton of Sulphur Springs claimed it all as his.
As a result, Gorton was taken into custody at 2:12 a.m. March 13 on a possession of less than 1 gram of a Penalty Group 1 controlled substance charge, according to arrest reports. The substance was seized as evidence; it field-tested positive for meth. The total weight of the bag was 0.362 gram and the total weighed of the unsmoked shards of suspected meth was 0.048 gram.
Gorton was released from Hopkins County jail on a $10,000 bond on the felony controlled substance charge later Saturday, March 13, according to jail reports.
Jail records also showed Gorton has a prior controlled substance charge, for possession of 1-4 gram, on April 24, 2013. He served from Aug. 20 to Oct. 27, 2016, in Hopkins County jail as part of a three-year prison sentence for violation of probation on the controlled substance charge, according to jail reports. Gorton was last jailed in Hopkins County from Feb. 19 to Feb. 25, 2020, for violation of parole and on a traffic warrant.
Sunday Night Arrest
Sulphur Springs Police Officer Silas Whaley just before 8 p.m. Sunday, March 14, contacted a 31-year-old Sulphur Springs man seen walking with traffic near his South Broadway Street residence.
A search of Nicholas Anthony Reynolds’ pockets turned up a bag with a crystal-like substance the officer believed to be methamphetamine in a wallet in his pocket, Whaley alleged in arrest reports.
Whaley took Reynolds into custody and to jail on a possession of less than 1 gram of a Penalty Group 1 controlled substance charge, according to arrest reports. Reynolds remained in Hopkins County jail Monday. Bond was set at $5,000 on the felony controlled substance charge, according to Hopkins County jail reports.
If you have an emergency, dial 9-1-1
The Hopkins County Sheriff’s Office is located at 298 Rosemont Sulphur Springs, TX 75482. You can reach them for non-emergency matters at (903) 438-4040.
