ASP traffic stop on alleged speeder leads to driver’s felony drug arrest
A traffic stop on a speeding vehicle Friday morning reportedly led to the arrest of the driver on multiple felony and misdemeanor charges after drugs and a gun were reportedly found in the car.
Daniel Ray McClendon, 49, who lists a Burmaster Lane address in Pearcy, was taken into custody shortly before 7 a.m. and charged with felony counts of simultaneous possession of drugs and firearms, punishable by up to life in prison, possession of a controlled substance, meth, pun- ishable by up to 10 years, and possession of drug paraphernalia, punishable by up to six years.
McClendon was also charged with misdemeanor counts of possession of a controlled substance involving pills and possession of drug paraphernalia, punishable by up to one year in jail. He was also cited for speeding, expired tags, a fictitious license tab and not wearing a seat belt.
McClendon was being held on zero bond and was set to appear Monday in Garland County District Court.
According to the probable cause affidavit, around 6:45 a.m. Friday, Arkansas State Police Trooper Ryan Wingo saw a brown 1997 Dodge pickup westbound on Airport Road and clocked it on radar going 60 mph in a 45 mph zone and he also noticed the driver was not wearing a seat belt so he stopped it in the 1900 block of Airport.
The driver, identified as McClendon, gave Wingo a Colorado driver’s license and provided proof of insurance for the truck. A computer check showed McClendon to have a valid Colorado license, but his Arkansas license was canceled. It also showed the truck’s license plate expired in February, but it was displaying a December 2019 registration tab.
While speaking to McClendon, Wingo said he noticed he was having body and eye tremors, so he asked him to get out and patted him down to check for weapons. He felt a hard object in his front left pocket which McClendon said was “a pipe he found in the parking lot.”
Wingo removed a glass pipe that had crystal residue and burn marks on the bulb end. At that point, he took McClendon into custody and asked if there was anything else in the vehicle, and McClendon told him there was another pipe in the center console he used to smoke marijuana.
While searching the truck, Wingo reportedly found a baggie with 2.6 grams of what later tested positive for meth, a pill bottle with 34 Naloxone pills that was in someone’s else’s name, and one Diazepam pill in a baggie. McClendon also stated there was a gun in his backpack in the back seat and Wingo checked and located a Ruger .22-caliber handgun.