By Mary Jane Farmer for the Van Alstyne News, Scene In Town
Van Alstyne Police made several arrests during the final week of January, and in the process removed several drugs from several drivers. Van Alstyne Police Lt. Steven Hayslip reported the following.
July 25 — About 2 pm, a caller reported a reckless driver on U.S. Highway 75 around Farmington Road. The caller had said the driver wasn’t maintaining its lane and causing other drivers to swerve to keep from being hit. Police located the vehicle, turned on its overhead flashing lights, but the driver did not pull over, Hayslip said. They turned on the patrol car’s siren, but the driver still failed to yield for several miles. But then, finally, the did pull over and stop.
The officers determined that the driver was intoxicated and that she had previous Driving While Intoxicated convictions. They jailed the driver, a Dallas woman, on charges of DWI 3rd or More and of Evading Arrest with a Vehicle. She posted $60,000 bail in surety bonds later that same day for her release.
July 26 — It was about 3 p.m. when police made a traffic stop on U.S. 75 at Redden Road, after seeing the vehicle had no front license plate. The made contact with the driver, a Dallas man, and smelled the odor of Marijuana. With that probable cause element, they searched the vehicle and found small amount of Marijuana in the bag and arrested the suspect.
Grayson County Jail records show that the suspect posted $750 bail in a surety bond and was released the next day.
July 28 — About 11:30 p.m., a police officer made a traffic stop on U.S. 75 at Van Alstyne Parkway (FM 121) after running a check on the vehicle and discovering there was no liability insurance covering it. Hayslip said it is the Texas Traffic Code that requires liability insurance.
The officer, by obtaining the driver’s identification, learned that there was an active warrant issued by Dallas County. The police also smelled the distinctive odor of marijuana coming from inside the vehicle. They conducted a probable-cause search and found both marijuana and a substance that field-tested positive as cocaine.
subsequent field test resulted in a positive result. The driver was placed under arrest for Warrant Service and Possession of a Controlled Substance Penalty Group 1 (Cocaine) less than one gram.
Police jailed the suspect, a Dallas man, at the Grayson County Jail on the warrant and on a charge of Possession of a Controlled Substance (cocaine).
Jail records show that there was a second Dallas County warrant also placed on the suspect. These two warrants charged him with Burglary of Vehicles and Fleeing a Police Officer.
He posted $5,000 bail in a surety bond for the Van Alstyne charge, and $2,000 in cash bonds on the Dallas County warrants and was then released the next day.
July 29 — Again, a late-night traffic stop resulted in the arrest of a driver. Hayslip reported that it was about 11:45 p.m. Monday night and the officers made a traffic stop based on the vehicle’s having a defective license plate light. The first thing they noticed when they talked with the driver was an open container of an alcoholic beverage They had the driver step out of the car and when he did, Hayslip said, they saw a clear bag containing a white powdery substance. A probable-cause search and field test determined it was cocaine in the baggie.
They placed the driver, a Melissa man, under arrest on a charge of Possession of Controlled substance (Cocaine.)
Jail records show that the suspect paid $5,000 bail in a surety bond and was released the next day.
July 30 — At 2 in the morning, police made a traffic stop on U.S. 75 at Simmons Loop after seeing the vehicle speeding on the highway. The driver stopped for the police, who then smelled what smelled like Marijuana coming from inside the vehicle. Again, a probable-cause search had them find a small amount of marijuana, along with a prescription pill bottle with no label on it.
Hayslip said the officers recognized the pills as those that require a prescription, but that the driver could not provide any proof the pills were prescribed to her, and so they jailed her on a charge of Possession of a Dangerous Drug.
Grayson County Jail records show that bail was set at $2,500, which the suspect, a Houston woman, paid with a surety bond and was released later that day.
July 31 — At 5:30 p.m., officers were sent to a reckless driver reportedly coming eastward on FM 121 from Gunter. The caller told dispatch, Hayslip said, that the driver wasn’t maintaining his lane, at times even driving into oncoming traffic. They found and stopped the vehicle, made contact with the driver, and smelled the odor of an intoxication beverage coming from him. Hayslip said the driver stated he was drunk and so police put him through a series of Standardized Sobriety Tests, which showed him to be intoxicated.
They jailed this suspect, a Princeton man, on a charge of DWI With an Open Container. His bail was set at $2,500, which he posted with a surety bond with conditions attached, and was freed the next day.