By Mary Jane Farmer, for the Van Alstyne News
Van Alstyne Police made the following arrests within the past two weeks, and Police Lt. Steven Hayslip provided these reports.
On June 29, at 9:40 a.m., officers initiated a traffic stop on US Highway 75 and FM 121 after seeing a vehicle being driven on a public roadway with no front license plate. Upon making contact with the driver, a Sherman resident, and following protocol, the officer discovered an outstanding warrant on the suspect, charging him with reckless driving. Van Alstyne PD jailed the suspect for warrant service. The suspect posted bail set at $1,500 in a surety bond for his release the next day.
On June 30, at 10:00 p.m., officers saw a man passed out in the driver’s seat of a car in the parking lot of a business at 1001 W Van Alstyne Parkway. at 1001 W. Van Alstyne Pkwy. Officers conducted a welfare check and identified as a San Antonio man, and uncovered an outstanding warrant issued in Bexar County and charging the suspect with indecent exposure. Police also found a firearm in his possession, illegal because the suspect is a convicted felon. They placed him under arrest on the warrant. Hayslip said they also charged him with Unlawful Carrying of a Weapon (Felon). That charge, however, does not show In. the Grayson County Jail records. The suspect laid out his time in jail and was released on July 10.
On July 2, about 3 a.m., officers initiated a traffic stop on Van Alstyne Pkwy and Henry Hynds Expressway after observing a passenger in a vehicle throw a lighted cigarette out the window. Upon making contact with the driver, a Kaufman man, the officer discovered that an outstanding warrant issued in Dallas County. The warrant charged the suspect with theft between $750-$2,500. The officer jailed the suspect on the warrant. He posted bail of $5,000 later the same day for his release.
On July 4, at about 8 p.m., officers were dispatched to the 700 block of Billups regarding a domestic disturbance. Upon arrival, officers determined that a verbal altercation (an argument) had turned physical, Hayslip said. The suspect reportedly had impeded a family member’s breathing. Police jailed him a charge of Assault. Hayslip said the victim declined medical services. A magistrate at the jail set bail at $10,000 and added conditions to the surety bond, which the suspect posted for his release July 5.
On July 5, about 11:45 p.m., officers were dispatched to the 300 block of Henry Hynds in regard to a reckless driver. Upon arrival in the area, officers located the vehicle and made a traffic stop. They smelled the odor of alcohol and saw that the driver had red and glassy eyes. They placed the driver, a Mesquite woman, through Standardized Field Sobriety Tests, and then incarcerated her in the Grayson County Jail on a charge of Driving While Intoxicated. She met bail of $1,500 later that same day for her release.
On July 7, about 1 a.m., an officer initiated a traffic stop after seeing a vehicle operating on a public roadway with defective equipment (license plate light). Upon making contact with the driver, a Lane, Oklahoma, woman, officers observed her to be very nervous. Hayslip reported that, as officers continued to talk with her, she repeatedly kept looking at a backpack that was located beside her. Based on reasonable suspicion, officers asked Cochran for verbal consent to search the vehicle, which she denied. The officer requested a K-9. Once the K-9 arrived on scene, an open-air sniff was conducted. Th K-9 indicated a positive alert, which led the officers to conduct a probable cause search of the vehicle. During the search, officers located methamphetamine. Cochran was arrested for Possession of a Controlled Substance in Penalty Group 1 (Methamphetamine) over 4 grams and under 200 grams. She posted bail of $15,000 with a surety bond and was released later the same day.
On July 8, about 1 a.m., officers initiated a traffic stop on Van Alstyne Pkwy and Henry Hynds after observing a vehicle make an illegal turn. The officers made a traffic stop and, smelled alcohol and had red and glassy eyes. They conducted a Standardized Field Sobriety Tests, which led to his arrest and incarceration on a charge of Driving While Intoxicated At the jail, officials placed an Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) charge on the suspect.
There were no Van Alstyne residents indicted in the Grayson County Grand Jury’s recent session. However, the number of drug indictments remained high with 9 counts for possession of Methamphetamine, 1 count for Cocaine, 1 count for Marijuana, and 5 counts for Fentanyl. Also, they indicted a Collinsville man on 7 counts of Child Pornography.