Local man sentenced to prison on theft, drug charges

Pristavec
Pristavec

A local man was sentenced to 10 years in prison Monday after pleading guilty to felony drug and theft charges in Garland County Circuit Court.

Daniel Paul Pristavec, 44, who was set to stand trial Jan. 22, 2018, pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance, cocaine, possession of drug paraphernalia and theft by receiving more than $1,000 and was sentenced to 10 years on each count, to run concurrently, and fined a total of $3,000.

Additional felony charges of theft by receiving and failure to appear and a motion to revoke his parole from a 2007 conviction for aggravated robbery and criminal attempt to commit aggravated robbery were withdrawn as part of the plea agreement.

According to the affidavit, on May 18, 2016, shortly before 2 a.m., Hot Springs police Officer Allen Constant was attempting to catch up to a suspicious vehicle, a GMC Yukon pulling a car trailer, he had seen pull out from behind a closed business in the 1300 block of Central Avenue.

He followed as the Yukon made an abrupt turn onto Alcorn Street off Central, intending to make a traffic stop because the vehicle had no taillights, when it stopped suddenly and the driver, later identified as Pristavec, got out.

Pristavec began to inspect the trailer and a nearby carport. Constant made contact with him and he said he was checking to see if the trailer would fit in his carport. The Mississippi license plate returned to a different vehicle and a computer check revealed Pristavec had two warrants for failure to appear.

Pristavec was taken into custody without incident and during a search of his person Constant found a crack pipe and a baggie with 0.5 gram of what later tested positive for cocaine.

The Yukon, valued at $2,500, was determined to be stolen out of New Orleans and the car trailer was determined to be stolen from Budget Rentals, 936 Golf Links Road, resulting in the additional charges.

Local on 10/03/2017

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