A local man was arrested late Tuesday on felony drug charges after being stopped for having a taillight out and expired license plate tags that turned out to be fictitious.
Jesse Carl Beeman, 34, who lists an address of 215 Highway 290, was taken into custody around 10:30 p.m. and charged with felony counts of possession of a controlled substance, methamphetamines, and possession of drug paraphernalia, punishable by up to six years in prison.
According to reports, Dunn was westbound on Albert Pike behind a red Honda Civic when he spotted the violations, so he stopped the car at the Royal Shell in the 5700 block and made contact with the driver, identified as Beeman, who didn’t have his driver’s license or other documentation.
He claimed he had just purchased the vehicle, but could not produce a bill of sale. A check of his name revealed his driver’s license was expired out of Florida.
At that point, Dunn noted a broom handle that had been cut in half, wrapped with electrical tape and had a lanyard fixed to the bottom, which was lying between the car seats.
Dunn had Beeman get out and asked him if there was anything illegal in the vehicle and he told him there was a glass meth pipe between the seats, which Dunn located.
He also found a spoon and a small plastic baggie, both with white residue, and later found a shaving kit with a bag of what looked like “crushed rock salt” so he called agents with the 18th Judicial District East Drug Task Force to assist.
Hot Springs Police Sgt. Chris Hays, DTF coordinator, responded and identified the substance as ICE or meth with an approximate weight of 0.75 grams. They also found several pill bottles containing various medications in the trunk which were determined not to be controlled substances.
In addition to the felony counts, Beeman was also charged with defective equipment, fictitious tags, failure to pay registration fees and having an expired driver’s license.
Beeman was still being held Wednesday in lieu of $5,000 bond and is set to appear May 7 in district court.
