Traffic stop leads to felony, misdemeanor drug charges
STEVEN MROSS
The Sentinel-Record
A suspected drunk driver who finally stopped after initially fleeing was soon facing felony and misdemeanor drug charges after a search of his vehicle Wednesday evening.
Richard Paul Stephens, 26, who lists an address of 1612 Thornton Ferry Road, was taken into custody shortly after 6:30 p.m. on a felony charge of possession of a controlled substance, Valium, punishable by up to six years in prison, and misdemeanor counts of driving while intoxicated, second offense, possession of a controlled substance, marijuana, and fleeing.
Stephens, who also had three warrants for failure to appear, remained in custody Thursday in lieu of $6,000 bond and is set to appear Jan. 14 in Garland County District Court.
According to reports, Garland County sheriff’s Cpl. Joshua Cannon was advised by the manager of Sonic, 1528 Airport Road, that she believed a patron was drunk due to him “slurring his words” and not being able to understand what she was saying to him.
Cannon got behind the driver, later identified as Stephens, who was in a green Dodge pickup in the Sonic parking lot and pulled out behind him and ran the tags, which returned to a different vehicle.
He followed the pickup as it turned onto Majestic Lodge Road and then onto Phadral Point where Cannon attempted to make a traffic stop, activating his lights and siren, but the suspect continued on.
The suspect turned onto Ernest Way, still disregarding the lights and siren, and then onto North Danna Drive, where he finally stopped in the middle of the road. After GCSD Deputy Clayton Green arrived to assist, Stephens was detained for fleeing. The deputies noted a strong odor of intoxicants on him and that he had red, bloodshot, watery eyes. A computer check revealed he had three warrants, so he was taken into custody.
During an inventory of his vehicle, deputies located 3 grams of suspected marijuana and scattered throughout the pickup were 16 green pills later determined to be Valium.
Once at the detention center, deputies administered three field sobriety tests on Stephens and he allegedly failed all three. It was also noted a breathalyzer registered his blood-alcohol level at 0.14 percent, almost twice the legal limit.
