Shattered windshield, dropped pipe lead to felony charges
A traffic stop for a shattered windshield ended with the arrest of a homeless man on felony drug charges Tuesday morning after he allegedly dropped a glass pipe getting out of the vehicle.
Mitchell Allen Burroughs, 28, who lists “city streets” as his address, was taken into custody shortly after 7 a.m. and charged with felony counts of possession of a controlled substance, meth, and possession of drug paraphernalia, each punishable by up to six years in prison, and a misdemeanor count of possession of marijuana, punishable by up to one year in jail.
Burroughs, who also had warrants for failure to appear and failure to comply, was being held on a zero bond and was set to appear Wednesday in Garland County District Court. He also had a hold on him out of Dallas County.
According to the probable cause affidavit, Hot Springs police Officer M. Maughan was patrolling in the 600 block of East Grand Avenue when he spotted an eastbound green Jeep Cherokee with a windshield that was shattered “to the point it obstructed the view of the driver.” A computer check also revealed the license plate returned to a different vehicle.
Maughan stopped the vehicle and made contact with the driver and a passenger, identified as Burroughs, who was found to have multiple warrants for his arrest. As Burroughs was being removed from the vehicle, a glass pipe fell to the ground and broke into two pieces, but allegedly contained some meth residue in it.
In searching Burroughs further, the officer reportedly found a plastic baggie with 5.9 grams of marijuana in it. Burroughs allegedly made a spontaneous statement that there was also “some dope” in the bag with the marijuana.
A closer check confirmed a smaller sealed baggie with half a gram of what later tested positive for meth.
In searching the vehicle, officers found a sunglasses case “directly in reach Burroughs” which allegedly contained two syringes with another 0.4 gram of a clear liquid that also tested positive for meth.