Broken windshield leads to drug charges

GENTRY - A traffic stop for a broken windshield led to two arrests in Gentry on April 19.

At about 7 p.m., Gentry police stopped a car on Arkansas Highway 59 driven by Michael Sierks, 31, of Gentry, after noting that the windshield was broken and obstructed the driver’s view, according to an affidavit of probable cause.

Police arrested Sierks for driving on a suspended driver’s license, the affidavit states.

Sierks also consented to a search of the car after police noticed that a passenger, Hannah Ward, 22, of Siloam Springs, kept leaning over as if she were reaching under the seat.

Under the front passenger seat, where Ward had been sitting, police found “a zebra-striped pouch containing a glass smoking device and several straws containing a white powdery substance,” the affidavit states.

Police arrested Ward for possession of drug paraphernalia and, in a search incident to arrest, discovered in Ward’s purse, a number of pills which police believed to be a variety of different controlled substance medications, according to the affidavit.

Both were transported to the Benton County Jail. Sierks was charged for driving on a suspended license, and Ward for possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of a controlled substance.

News, Pages 3 on 05/01/2013