Traffic stop ends in chase, two arrests
Two Garland County residents were arrested Tuesday after allegedly fleeing from local drug task force officers and Arkansas State Police in a vehicle that contained multiple narcotics, firearms and drug paraphernalia.
Ronnie Aaron Seger, 33, and Jacklynn Marie Wheeler, 19, who both list the same Little Mazarn Road address, were taken into custody around 4:30 p.m. Tuesday and charged with felony counts of trafficking a controlled substance and simultaneous possession of drugs and firearms, punishable by up to life in prison; possession of methamphetamine or cocaine with purpose to deliver, punishable by up to 30 years; possession of drug paraphernalia, unauthorized use of another person’s property to facilitate a crime and possession of a controlled substance that is not meth or cocaine
with purpose to deliver, punishable by up to 20 years; theft by receiving, punishable by up to 10 years; possession of a Schedule IV or V controlled substance with purpose to deliver, punishable by up to six years; and possession of a Schedule VI controlled substance, a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail.
Seger, a previously convicted felon, was also charged with possession of firearms by certain persons, a felony punishable by up to 20 years, and felony fleeing, punishable by up to six years.
They both remained in custody Wednesday in lieu of zero bond and are set to appear in Garland County District Court on March 13.
According to the affidavit, undercover investigators with the 18th Judicial District East Drug Task Force contacted Arkansas State Police for assistance in stopping a 2007 white extended cab Chevrolet Silverado pickup that was reportedly stolen in Little Rock.
A state police unit pulled up next to the pickup as it was driving south on Central Avenue, prompting the driver, later identified as Seger, to turn right onto Crawford, where the trooper lost sight of it. Investigators followed the pickup onto Higdon Ferry Road, where it sped south and turned onto Lakeshore Drive. The pursuit continued on Burchwood Bay Road, Twin Points Road, Roland Trail, Leroy Lane, Havelock Place, back to Burchwood Bay and then Twin Points, with Seger failing to stop at multiple stop signs along the way.
While speeding east on Twin Points, the pickup encountered two state police vehicles, which initiated their blue lights. The pickup turned left into a driveway at 100 Twin Points, accelerated and almost collided head-on with another vehicle. It then crossed into the parking lot of a Valero gas station and sped across the front of the store.
The investigators cut across the parking lot to block the exit onto Higdon Ferry. Seger then drove behind the store and swerved to miss a state police unit. The pickup finally came to a halt after it was blocked by another state police unit.
Seger and Wheeler were ordered out of the pickup. The two exited, allegedly refused to obey commands multiple times and were then taken into custody.
The vehicle was reportedly found to contain approximately 3.7 grams of marijuana, 23.8 grams of meth, 26.5 grams of cocaine, a glass marijuana pipe, three alprazolam 2-milligram bars, 15 alprazolam 1-milligram bars, five 1-milligram clonazepam tablets, 24 oxycodone tablets, a hydrocodone tablet, a box with eight plastic bags of suspected meth and a cigarette box containing approximately 2.3 grams of suspected meth. The suspected meth and cocaine field tested positive for the drugs.
Also located within the vehicle were a suitcase containing three firearms, a set of digital scales, an ammo pouch containing a glass meth pipe, multiple cellphones, six license plates, a hotel receipt showing a $200 deposit from Seger, a check from Mena to Seger for $1,000, a page torn from a phone book marked “important” that read, “cut locks, install new ones,” two surveillance cameras, numerous zipper bags and two sets of bolt cutters.
Investigators seized $734 from Seger and $421 from Wheeler. Seger’s records showed he was convicted of residential burglary in Pulaski County in 2008. The pickup was registered to an owner from Little Rock.