Curtis Wayne Clifton has made appearances in courtrooms in Baxter, Cross, Crittenden, Craighead, Mississippi, St. Francis and Lee Counties in Arkansas and Dunklin County in Missouri, according to electronic court records in both states.
The 43-year-old Clifton was also recently indicted by a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Arkansas for allegedly possessing methamphetamine for sale.
During a session of Baxter County Circuit Court Monday, Prosecutor David Ethredge said the state cases open on Clifton in Baxter County would be closed now that he has been charged by federal authorities.
His wife, 37-year-old Kaleena Bayleigh Clifton, and 38-year-old Amelia Pittaway of Mountain Home have also been indicted by a federal grand jury. Pittaway has been arrested with Clifton on at least one occasion.
FEDERAL DRUG INDICTMENT
In early March last year, a Craighead County deputy sheriff stopped a vehicle driven by Clifton and reported finding six pounds of methamphetamine.
Clifton was arrested along with Pittaway, who was a passenger in the vehicle.
According to the probable cause affidavit in that case, both Clifton and Pittaway initially gave false names. Clifton said he was “Daniel Martinez” and Pittaway said she was “Jazmine Popp.” A computer check revealed their true identities.
The car was searched and numerous plastic bags containing methamphetamine were found in various areas, including hidden under the hood.
Pittaway has also had drug-related charges filed against her in Baxter County.
Trials in federal court for Clifton and Pittaway are now set for September 11. Both are being held in different facilities by the U.S. Marshal’s Service.
FALSE NAMES USED
Records show that Clifton has used false names several times.
When he was arrested in St. Francis County in 2018 and charged with being in possession of 34 grams of methamphetamine, he used the name “Jonathan Abbot.”
In its initial press release on the arrest, the St. Francis County Sheriff’s Office used the false name.
The next day, the press release was amended to indicate Curtis Clifton was the person who had been taken into custody. An additional charge of obstructing governmental operations was filed against him for giving the false name to authorities.
NEWEST BAXTER COUNTY CASE
In the 43-year-old Clifton’s newest case in Baxter County, he was charged with hitting a man with a tire iron in mid-December last year.
The new charge also resulted in the revocation of Clifton’s parole in an earlier case.
According to the probable cause affidavit in his newest case, Mountain Home police were called to the Murphy USA gas station to answer a call reporting an assault.
When police arrived, they noted a large amount of blood near one of the gas pumps.
When footage from security cameras was reviewed, a man later identified as Clifton, was seen grabbing a tire iron from his vehicle, sneaking up behind the victim and hitting him in the head.
The victim is reported to have fought Clifton off, returned to his vehicle and left. He sought medical treatment “on his own” for what were described as “large lacerations at the top of his head.”
The security camera video is alleged to show Clifton screaming at the victim before he left.
CLIFTON HAD GUN IN ROOM
In late 2020, Mountain Home police were called to a local motel after management said a maid found a gun and smoking pipes believed used to ingest methamphetamine in one of the rooms.
The room was rented to Clifton who was on probation and reported to be under the supervision of the Mountain Home office of Arkansas Community Corrections at the time.
Clifton had signed a waiver that permitted warrantless searches of his person and property.
Police reported receiving no answer when they knocked on the door to the room. Motel management supplied a key.
No one was in the room when officers entered, but a search did turn up an AR-15 rifle hidden between the mattresses.
The rifle was reported to have been stolen from Poinsett County in East Arkansas. A 9-millimeter pistol was found in a dresser drawer.
The room also contained items used to produce and package methamphetamine for sale.
Officers found crushed pills of what was suspected to be pseudoephedrine, a bottle of Liquid Heat, lye-based drain cleaner, a bottle of camp fuel and coffee filters in a black bag by a bed.
Inside the microwave in the room, police located a glass jar containing water with two hoses coming out of the top.
According to the police report, the items are known to be used in what is known as the “Nazi method” of producing methamphetamine.
The drug was used during World War II to increase the wakefulness and sharpen the attention of members of the German armed forces. The method of producing it developed during this period and is still in use today, according to the Federal Drug Enforcement Agency.
Police also found digital scales and small plastic bags in the room.
Mail addressed to Clifton was also found in the room.
Clifton was not arrested at the time. Records show a Curtis Clifton with the same birth date as noted in the Mountain Home police report to be an inmate in the Randall Williams unit of the state prison system at the time.
He was serving a sentence on charges picked up in East Arkansas.
According to electronic court records, the bulk of Clifton’s arrests through the years involved possessing, transporting and selling drugs.
Court records show that Clifton has listed several addresses, including Mountain Home, Wilson in Mississippi County and Marion in Crittenden County.
On one document, he indicated he was employed as a handyman at a resort on Bull Shoals Lake.
Court records show that Clifton has been charged for crimes mainly committed in a wide swath of Northeast Arkansas.
ANOTHER ARREST, MORE METH FOUND
One of Clifton’s arrests in Cross County came when a Wynne city policeman pulled over a vehicle driven by Clifton for a minor traffic offense.
As the officer pulled in behind the car, it made a sudden left turn across two lanes of traffic and drove into a car wash.
After the car stopped, the officer asked for Clifton’s driver’s license, but he said he did not have it with him and had no documentation to prove ownership of the vehicle.
Clifton told the officer the car belonged to a local auto dealership and that he had brought it to the car wash “to detail it.”
After that story fell apart, the vehicle was searched and drugs were found, including almost 52 grams of suspected methamphetamine, hydrocodone tablets and marijuana. Several items of paraphernalia used to ingest drugs were also found.
CLIFTON COUPLE FREQUENT OFFENDERS
Separate or apart, Curtis Clifton and Kaleena Clifton have run afoul of the law in many ways in many places. The central ingredient in felony charges filed against both has been drug trafficking.
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