Driver allegedly impaired by drugs, with two children in car, arrested
A Bismarck man was arrested on multiple charges Sunday morning after he was stopped by Hot Springs police while allegedly driving under the influence of drugs with a baby and toddler in the car.
Joshua Martin Thomas, 29, was taken into custody shortly before 8:30 a.m. and charged with a felony count of possession of a controlled substance, punishable by up to 10 years in prison, and two misdemeanor counts of third-degree endangering the welfare of a minor and one count of driving while intoxicated, drugs, punishable by up to one year in jail.
Thomas, who was also cited for careless and prohibited driving and improper lane change, was later released on a $6,000 bond and is set to appear today in Garland County District Court.
According to the probable cause affidavit, shortly before 8 a.m. Sunday, Officer 1st Class Richard Davis responded to the area of Higdon Ferry Road and Central Avenue regarding a reckless driver and saw a black Honda Accord pass Alpine Street on Higdon that fit the description.
He followed the Accord onto Central and noted it was “weaving from side to side” in the outside lane, almost striking the curb and the light pole at Central and Trivista Lane. He activated his lights to pull the driver over and the car finally stopped on the sidewalk on the right side of the road.
Davis made contact with the driver, identified as Thomas, and noted he had slurred speech and his eyes were “very glassy with constricted pupils.” The officer also discovered there were two children, ages 1 and 2, in the back seat of the car.
Officer 1st Class Taylor Gates responded to the scene to assist and conducted field sobriety tests on Thomas, who allegedly failed all three of them.
Thomas was taken into custody and in searching him, officers found two orange pill bottles in his pockets. On one bottle it was impossible to read the name of the person it was prescribed to and the other was prescribed to a female. Thomas reportedly had no documentation showing the pills were prescribed to him.
While being taken to the detention center, Thomas allegedly nodded off several times and his speech continued to be “slow, low and raspy,” the affidavit states. He provided a breath sample at the jail which registered 0.0 blood alcohol content, but he also provided a urine sample that was sent to the state crime lab for testing.
The pills in the two bottles were identified as hydrocodone, a schedule II controlled substance, approximately 19.1 grams.