If you’re driving a pickup truck, you should probably be considerate about where you’re driving and how you’re driving. And you should probably, definitely not be transporting drugs in it. Arkansas State Police say a pickup driver took a trooper on a short, dangerous chase before crashing into the back of someone’s home. Then the wayward Ford F-150 ended its run in a backyard, plowing into a shed harder than the heads of people who think man has yet to walk on the moon.
Naturally, the driver was taken into custody. Troopers also reported seizing about 30 grams of suspected methamphetamine from the pickup truck, which, at this point kind of seems obvious, but we’re going to tell you about it anyway. It all started when a trooper spotted a white F-150 on U.S. Highway 70 near the Biscoe Post Office, with its hazard lights flashing. The trooper turned around to get behind it. Then, truck started driving the wrong way, traveling about 200 feet in the oncoming lane before turning onto a residential street. There, it sped up through a neighborhood and blew past its 25 mile per hour speed limit.
The chase didn’t last long, though. The F-150 turned into the backyard of a home on Broad Street and slammed into the shed. It collapsed like a pile of straw and then trapped the truck in place. The driver told the trooper in pursuit he couldn’t get out, so he was ordered to stay inside with his hands in the air. The culprit: 58-year-old Dewayne Jones, who was delivered with care to the Prairie County Detention Center.
Inside the truck, troopers say they found the some meth, two smoking devices, and a digital scale to measure everything. And there was also enough to pile up a laundry list of charges against Jones: felony fleeing, first-degree criminal mischief for the destroyed shed, and possession of methamphetamine with the purpose to deliver, along with several traffic counts.
Why the Possession Charge is Bad News for Jones
The key word in the drug charge is “deliver”, and that’s part of what makes this such a serious issue. Arkansas treats possession with the purpose to deliver as far more serious than simple possession, because it means you’re probably planning on distributing it. How do police know the difference? People usually have pipes or other memorabilia with the drugs themselves. In this case that includes a digital scale, because it implies more than just personal use.
And then under Arkansas law, possessing 10 to 200 grams of meth with intent to deliver is a Class A felony. That’s 6 to 30 years in prison right there. And when you add the other charges on top, if convicted, there’s a lot of prison time on the line.
It’s not a good situation for anyone involved.
Why Running Counts as a Felony Here
Surprisingly, fleeing from police isn’t automatically a felony in Arkansas. On foot, or in a vehicle without adding in explicit danger, it’s usually a misdemeanor. It actually turns into a felony under Arkansas law when someone drives in a way that shows “extreme indifference to human life”. That means putting others at risk or death or serious injury. So that includes something like driving in the wrong direction…or plowing into a shed.
That same driving is what produced the other charges. The collapsed shed is behind the criminal-mischief count, and the way the truck was driven accounts for the reckless-driving and traffic allegations. A wrong-way pickup at highway speed, and a chase that ended in a residential backyard, put people at risk, even though no one was hurt. But again, if you’re driving around in a pickup truck, you should leave the meth at home. Or out of your life, preferably.