A Pearcy man on parole was arrested late Tuesday on multiple charges after reportedly blocking traffic to pick up a dropped cigarette when almost $9,000 in counterfeit money and drugs were allegedly found in his possession.
Buddy Lee Harris, 41, who lists a Caraway Street address, was taken into custody shortly before 11:30 p.m. and charged with felony counts of first-degree forgery and possession of drug paraphernalia, punishable by up to 20 years in prison, and possession of a controlled substance, meth, possession of a counterfeit controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia, each punishable by up to six years, and a misdemeanor count of driving on a suspended license.
Harris, who also had a hold on him out of Pike County, was being held on $17,500 bond and was set to appear Wednesday in Garland County District Court.
According to the probable cause affidavit, shortly after 11 p.m. Tuesday, Hot Springs police Officer Brandon McAdoo was patrolling the area of Malvern and Grand when he saw a maroon Hyundai Sonata stopped in the inside traffic lane in the 100 block of E. Grand impeding traffic.
He activated his lights and siren and pulled the car over near Jefferson Street and made contact with the driver, identified as Harris, who stated he had stopped in the traffic lane because he dropped a cigarette.
A computer check showed Harris was on parole with a search waiver on file so McAdoo had him exit the vehicle and searched him. In his pants pocket, the officer allegedly found $8,800 worth of counterfeit $100 bills so McAdoo was arrested.
In the pocket of his hoodie, Harris reportedly had a baggie with 0.8 gram of what later tested positive for meth. In searching the vehicle, McAdoo reportedly found a backpack, which Harris admitted was his, that contained a digital scale, a glass smoking pipe and two baggies of "a counterfeit substance intended to represent and packaged in a manner consistent with meth."
• A homeless man was arrested Tuesday morning after he was allegedly caught driving a car stolen from Kentucky.
Larry Dewayne Rigsby, 41, who lists his address as "city streets," was taken into custody around 8:30 a.m. and charged with theft by receiving over $1,000, a felony punishable by up to six years in prison. He was being held on a $2,500 bond and was set to appear Wednesday in district court.
According to the probable cause affidavit, shortly after 8 a.m., officer Thomas Plummer was checking an alarm at a business in the 700 block of Central Avenue when he saw a blue 2003 Honda Pilot southbound on Central with the left tire blown out.
The car was "making a lot of noise" and when the driver, later identified as Rigsby, saw Plummer he "threw his hands up to his face." Plummer motioned for Rigsby to pull over but instead he sped up and continued southbound.
Plummer put out the vehicle description and the car was stopped a few minutes later at Central and Olive Street. The license plate was found to be expired and returned to a different vehicle. A check of the vehicle identification number revealed the Pilot had been reported stolen out of Kentucky.
A check on Rigsby showed he had warrants out of Florida for vehicle theft and out of Georgia for driving while intoxicated, but neither of the warrants was extraditable.
He was taken into custody and later told Plummer he had purchased the Pilot on Sept. 7 from a Hispanic male who supposedly bought it from a wrecker service. Rigsby said the license plate was given to him by a friend. The estimated value of the Pilot was $1,500.
In addition to the felony theft charge, Rigsby was cited for driving on a suspended license, having no liability insurance, fictitious tags, driving an unsafe vehicle and having a vehicle with no registration or expired tags.
Local on 11/14/2019