An allegedly intoxicated driver who crashed into several parked cars in a Walmart parking lot early Tuesday was arrested on felony and misdemeanor charges after multiple drugs were reportedly found in his van.
Roddie Lynn Golden, 55, who lists a North Little Rock address, was taken into custody shortly before 3 a.m. and charged with felony counts of possession of meth with purpose to deliver, punishable by up to 30 years in prison, and possession of drug paraphernalia, punishable by up to six years, and misdemeanor counts of driving while intoxicated, possession of marijuana, leaving the scene of a property damage accident, careless and prohibited driving and drinking in public.
Golden was being held on $15,000 bond and was set to appear Wednesday in Garland County District Court.
According to the probable cause affidavit, around 2 a.m. Tuesday, Hot Springs police responded to Walmart, 4019 Central Ave., regarding a white van driving erratically through the parking lot and hitting multiple vehicles.
They located a van matching the description with a man, later identified as Golden, standing next to it. They noted Golden had red, bloodshot eyes and a strong odor of intoxicants on his person. The van reportedly had heavy damage consistent with the description of the incident by witnesses and with the damage to the other vehicles in the lot.
The officers also noted the van's engine was still hot as if it had just been driven and found a piece of the van's hubcap next to another damaged vehicle.
Officer Anthony Larkin conducted a series of field sobriety tests on Golden and he allegedly failed or was unable to complete all three tests and during one appeared to be falling asleep. Golden consented to a Breathalyzer test and reportedly registered 0.107 blood alcohol, over the legal limit, so he was arrested for driving while intoxicated.
During an inventory search of his vehicle, Cpl. Zac Rostan allegedly found 21.2 grams of what later tested for meth separated into multiple plastic baggies and containers by weight with handwritten labels on them and 5.5 grams of marijuana.
Two open containers of liquor, one clear and one dark brown, were reportedly found in the front cup holders next to the driver's seat. Once at the jail, Golden allegedly stated, "I had a blackout a few years ago from alcohol." Asked if this incident "felt like what he felt that time," Golden said yes.
Local on 06/13/2019