Local man wanted on drug charges falls through ceiling, into police custody
TEXARKANA, Ark. — A local man with pending state drug charges appeared before a federal judge in Texarkana this week on a criminal complaint accusing him of possession of methamphetamine with the intent to distribute.
Terron Jerome Pearse, 31,
allegedly fell through the ceiling of his home while attempting to hide from police Oct. 12, according to the complaint.
Pearse appeared Wednesday via video before U.S. Magistrate Judge Barry Bryant for an initial appearance. The complaint charging Pearse in the Texarkana Division of the Western District of Arkansas was unsealed the same day.
According to the complaint, members of law enforcement were in the area of Pearse’s home in the 1000 block of Cleveland Street when a Texarkana Arkansas Police Department officer observed Pearse walking away from an “apparently inoperable” Toyota Camry parked in front of the residence. The officer attempted to talk to Pearse, whom he knew to have an outstanding felony warrant, but Pearse refused and walked back into his residence.
TAPD patrol officers secured the area around the residence in hopes of taking Pearse into custody on the outstanding warrant. Court records show that Pearse had an outstanding warrant at that time in Miller County resulting from a motion to revoke probation he is serving for drug-related offenses.
Pearse’s status in the criminal justice system included a search waiver already on file that allowed officers to look through the Camry in Pearse’s front yard. Inside officers allegedly found a red bag containing more than a pound of methamphetamine weighing 611 grams.
“While investigators were making attempts to get Pearse to come out of the residence, Pearse fell through the ceiling of the residence and was taken into custody,” the complaint states.
Pearse was allegedly attempting to hide in an attic or overhead crawl space when it gave way and he fell through.
“Inside the Residence, investigators located more suspected methamphetamine (approximately 3.5 grams) and an estimated 273 grams of what appears to be MSM, a non-controlled substance often used as a “cutting” agent, to dilute (and thus increase the volume of) methamphetamine prior to sale,” the complaint states.
Pearse allegedly admitted that the meth found in the car and in the house were his and that he had received the drugs the morning before officers appeared at his house. Pearse allegedly told investigators that he used the MSM, (methylsulfonylemethane), to “stretch” the drugs and increase his profits.
Pearse’s legal troubles in Miller County began in January 2019 with an arrest for possession of a controlled substance, methamphetamine, over two but under 10 grams and possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute more than 14 grams and less than four ounces.
Pearse was placed on a six-year term of probation as part of a plea arrangement in February 2019. In May 2019 a motion to revoke his probation was filed for administrative violations including failure to report, failure to report change of address, failure to attend court-ordered programs and failure to make payments toward court ordered fees. His probation was reinstated in August 2019.
A second motion to revoke Pearse’s 2019 probation was filed in July 2020. That motion came on the heels of a June 30 arrest for drug trafficking involving more than 200 grams of methamphetamine, possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of Xanax, a prescription anxiety medication often abused on the street.
Those charges and the motion to revoke remain pending against Pearse in state court. The state drug trafficking charge is punishable by 10 to 40 years or life in prison.