STOLEN CAR QUERY LEADS POLICE TO MAKE DRUG ARRESTS

By Ray King/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF

Two Pine Bluff men who were in a car that was stopped by police during an investigation into a stolen vehicle were arrested Thursday, after officers found marijuana on both of them.

Rodger Spears, 25, and Courtney Tripp, 19, will each have to post $10,000 bonds to be released from the county detention center after Circuit Judge Rob Wyatt Jr., ruled prosecutors had probable cause to charge both with possession of marijuana with intent to deliver.

Spears could also be charged with criminal impersonation after he gave police a false name, the judge ruled Friday during a court hearing.

Reading from an affidavit from vice and narcotics Detective Bruce Gee, Deputy Prosecutor Nicole Pugh said Spears and Tripp were in the car that police stopped at 2611 W. 34th Ave., at about 12:20 p.m., Thursday, after the vehicle had been reported stolen.

Gee reported that Spears, who was in the back seat, had a bag containing 10.9 grams of marijuana, and Tripp, who was in the front seat, had a bag containing several smaller bags of marijuana with a total weight of 13.3 grams.

Pugh said Spears initially gave police a false name during questioning.

Also Friday, the judge set a $15,000 bond for Chason Thurman, 19, after ruling prosecutors had probable cause to charge Thurman with residential burglary, theft of property, and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Sheriff’s Investigator Todd Davis reported he had received a call from a relative of Thurman, who reported he had learned that Thurman and two other men had broken into a house on Fulkerson Road and stolen several guns.

Pugh said the caller told Davis he had hidden the guns so Thurman couldn’t find them, and also reported seeing Thurman carry a bag into a wooded area near the relative’s house.

In his affidavit, Davis reported that he talked to Thurman, who led investigators to the bag which contained ammunition, and recovered the guns from the relative.

Pugh said investigators went to the house on Fulkerson Road and found a carport door pried open, and the glass on the gun cabinet broken.

She said Thurman is currently on probation for five years in another division of the court after pleading guilty to sexual assault.