By Mary Jane Farmer for the Van Alstyne News, Scene In Town
Van Alstyne Police stopped a vehicle Thursday (Dec. 1) for speeding on U.S. Highway 75, and in so doing, also removed 40 pounds of marijuana from circulation.
VAPD Lt. Steven Hayslip said that police were patrolling on US 75 when they clocked a southbound vehicle speeding at more than 100 mph. When the officers activated their overhead lights and sirens and got behind the vehicle. Hayslip said the driver gave them no problems.
They approached the vehicle and, Hayslip said, the officers smelled the distinctive and very strong odor of marijuana coming from inside the car. That gave them probable cause for a search. The marijuana, Hayslip added, was in the vehicle’s back seat, in multiple bags. They did a complete inventory-type search before having the car towed away and found nothing else.
The driver was headed from Oklahoma to the Houston area of Texas.
The suspect is a man from Humble, Texas, and was jailed on the third-degree felony charge of possession of marijuana between 5-50 pounds. A jail magistrate set bail at $10,000, payable in surety bonds. As of Friday afternoon, the suspect remained in Grayson County Jail.
Arrests Since November 1, police have also jailed numerous people on various charges. These include 10 for first-time Driving While Intoxicated; 8 more for DWI with an open container; 8 on charges of DWI 2nd offense; 6 for DWI – 3rd time to be charged.
Other charges — some included with these DWIs and others not — were 2 people charged with driving while their license is suspended; 1 person for assault causing bodily injury; 1 for theft for item(s) valued at between $2,500-$30,000 and several for possession of marijuana or controlled substances.
These various suspects were from Val Alstyne, the nearby cities of Howe, Anna, Melissa, and Sherman; and others from Oklahoma, Wylie, Gordonville, Denison, Celina, Whitesboro, Aubrey, Garland and San Felipe, Texas. The farthest suspect incarcerated was from Florida.
Indictments — The Grayson County Grand Jury met this week and returned many indictments for felony offenses. However, none of those reported were designated as being from Van Alstyne.