Photos: Courtney Ramsey and Brandon Farrell
A man listing a Mountain View address and a woman with an address in Forrest City recently wound up in a non-working carwash stall in Mountain Home and then in jail on drug-related charges.
According to the probable cause affidavit, a Mountain Home police officer was on routine patrol about 11 p.m. on Nov. 3. He reported seeing a dark-colored truck with its lights out backed into a carwash stall at Ninth and College streets.
The officer pulled in and contacted the occupants of the vehicle, 28-year-old Courtney Ramsey, a passenger, and the driver, 37-year-old Brandon Farrell.
Both Farrell and Ramsey appeared during a session of Baxter County Circuit Court last Thursday.
The court entered a not guilty plea for Ramsey on the drug-related charges against her. Farrell will appear this Thursday.
Ramsey said she was ready to plead to the charges, but Circuit Judge Gordon Webb said he did not accept guilty pleas until a defendant had at least had a chance to speak to a lawyer.
Ramsey said she was from St. Francis County and wanted to get the matter in Baxter County behind her.
As to what she was doing in Baxter County when arrested, Ramsey told the court, “I just happened to be up here.” Forrest City is located in East Arkansas, about a three-and-a-half-hour drive from Mountain Home.
When police asked what they were doing in the inoperable carwash stall late at night, Farrell said he was picking up some tires he had left there.
Other officers arrived at the scene and one noticed two syringes in the pocket of the open door on the driver’s side of the truck.
Another syringe was located behind the rear passenger seat.
A further search of the truck and its contents turned up almost 15 grams of methamphetamine in four bags concealed behind the small door covering the neck of the fuel tank.
The substance field tested positive for methamphetamine.
Officers also found a jar with slightly more than 18 grams of marijuana seeds.
Farrell said the methamphetamine belonged to Ramsey, but when asked about ownership of the drug, Ramsey asked to speak to an attorney and questioning stopped.
With no elaboration, one officer at the scene noted that both individuals had their pants unzipped.
A $5,000 bond has been set for each.
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