Vantrez Jones (left) and Dustin Harrington (Photos courtesy of Ozark County Sheriff’s Office)
Two men were arrested by Ozark County Sheriff Cass Martin last month after his office received a report from the Mountain Home Police Department of fake checks being cashed. Thirty-five-year-old Vantrez Jones of Georgia has since been extradited to Mississippi on drug charges, and another warrant has been issued for 39-year-old Dustin Harrington after he allegedly didn’t follow a judge’s orders.
According to the probable cause statement, the Mountain Home Police Department contacted the Ozark County Sheriff’s Office on April 19 and advised an SUV with a New York license plate was traveling north on Missouri Route JJ. The police said the SUV was driven by an individual who had allegedly went to local banks and attempted to cash fake checks.
Sheriff Martin initiated a traffic stop on U.S. Highway 160 in Gainesville, near the intersection with Missouri Highway 5. The SUV matched the description from the Mountain Home P.D., the driver was identified as Jones, and the passenger was identified as Harrington. Both men were taken into custody.
The fugitive warrant on Jones was confirmed out of Mississippi, and he has since been extradited to Harrison County for trafficking of a controlled substance and possession of a controlled substance. Harrington was interviewed, and the vehicle was searched at the sheriff’s office. A backpack in the vehicle reportedly contained two zip bags. One bag contained four grams of a substance, and the other with a straw, two glass-smoking devices and a digital scale. All items in the bags field-tested positive for methamphetamine.
Harrington was arrainged four days later on felony counts of possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was later released on bond, but another warrant was issued April 30 after he failed to show up for a mandatory drug test. Harrington remains at large as he also missed his court hearing on Tuesday.
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