Fleeing suspect arrested; allegedly tossed marijuana

Thomas Edward McGowan Jr. - Submitted photo
Thomas Edward McGowan Jr. - Submitted photo

A Hot Springs man was arrested on felony charges late Wednesday after allegedly fleeing Hot Springs police and tossing over a pound and a half of marijuana during the pursuit.

Thomas Edward McGowan Jr., 47, who lists a Lily Ruth Court address, was taken into custody around 11 p.m. in the parking lot of the E-Z Mart, 505 Summer St., and charged with felony counts of possession of marijuana with purpose to deliver, punishable by up to 10 years in prison, and possession of drug paraphernalia, punishable by up to six years, and a misdemeanor count of fleeing.

McGowan was later released on a $7,000 bond and is set to appear Aug. 18 in Garland County District Court.

According to the probable cause affidavit, shortly before 11 p.m. Wednesday, police Detective Joey Vanderburg was working a "shots fired saturation" detail in the area of Linwood Avenue when he saw a black SUV that made multiple turns around Linwood, Ward, School and Second streets and a computer check showed the tags returned to a different vehicle.

He attempted a traffic stop on Second Street but the driver, later identified as McGowan, failed to stop and continued to Garland Street, then Third Street, then to Grand Avenue and back to Second Street where Vanderburg reportedly saw the driver throw a large black bag out near the intersection of Second and Hobson Avenue.

The pursuit continued to Greenwood, back to Third Street, to Henderson Street, to Seventh Street, back to Greenwood and then to Pinewood, with the driver running six stop signs in the process. Other officers joined in the pursuit as the SUV continued to Albert Pike and then finally stopped at the E-Z Mart on Summer.

McGowan was taken into custody at that point and it was determined his driver's license was suspended and he had a warrant for failure to pay. During an inventory of the vehicle, officers reportedly found a small baggie of marijuana, 4.5 grams, in the driver's side floorboard along with several empty baggies and small lids.

The black bag was located at Second and Hobson and reportedly contained 25.7 ounces or 1.56 pounds of marijuana. In addition to the felony charges, McGowan was cited with multiple traffic offenses.

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