Man, woman face drug counts after police check

HOT SPRINGS — A Pearcy man and woman were arrested on felony charges Thursday after Garland County sheriff’s deputies responded to a call for a welfare check at a house that appeared to have been ransacked.

Kayla Jean Hinkle and Benjamin Trevor Sheets, both 23, were taken into custody shortly before 3 p.m. and each was charged with simultaneous possession of drugs and firearms, possession of marijuana with purpose to deliver, two counts of endangering the welfare of a minor and a misdemeanor count of possession of drug paraphernalia.

According to the probable-cause affidavit, shortly after noon Thursday, Cpl. Jeremy Simpson and Deputy Scott Hinojosa responded to a call from an American Termite employee who had gone to the North Pearcy Road residence and found the front door standing open and the house in disarray.

The deputies entered to ensure no one was injured and noted the interior appeared ransacked. They saw a substance, suspected to be marijuana, on a table and found six firearms in the house, according to the affidavit.

The deputies contacted Lt. Joel Ware and Sgt. Josh Cannon, who obtained a search warrant for the residence. Shortly after Cannon and Ware arrived, the homeowners, identified as Sheets and Hinkle, also arrived, according to the affidavit.

Sheets told authorities that they would find only marijuana and guns inside the house, according to the affidavit. When asked why the home appeared ransacked, Sheets said, “one of the kids got sick and it just got out of hand,” according to the affidavit.

The Arkansas Department of Human Services was contacted, and two children at the residence were taken into custody.