Teen who has felony charges pending arrested
A local teen with multiple felony charges pending from his arrest last summer was arrested again late Monday on gun and drug charges following a traffic stop by Hot Springs police.
Maximus Dewayne Gillespie, 19, who lists a Summer Court address, was taken into custody shortly after 11:30 p.m. and charged with felony counts of simultaneous possession of drugs and a firearm, punishable by up to life in prison, possession of drug paraphernalia, punishable by up to 20 years, and possession of a controlled substance, marijuana, with purpose to deliver, punishable by up to six years.
Gillespie, who was also charged with misdemeanor counts of driving on a suspended license and driving a vehicle with expired tags and cited for no proof of insurance, was being held on a zero bond and is set to appear on March 20 in Garland County District Court.
Gillespie was previously arrested on July 29, 2022, af- ter he and two accomplices allegedly tried to move multiple guns and drugs from an Airbnb in Hot Springs Village and charged with trafficking a controlled substance, simultaneous possession of drugs and firearms, four counts of possession of a controlled substance with purpose to deliver, involving meth, cocaine, fentanyl and marijuana, unauthorized use of another person’s property to facilitate a crime, theft by receiving of a firearm and possession of drug paraphernalia.
He was released on a $55,000 bond on Aug. 8 and pleaded not guilty to the charges on Sept. 7. A disposition hearing in the case is scheduled for March 1 in Garland County Circuit Court.
According to the probable cause affidavit on the new charges, shortly after 11 p.m., Officer Christopher Gibson was patrolling in the 1600 block of Central Avenue when he saw a white 2000 Ford Crown Victoria and a computer check showed the registration had expired.
He made a traffic stop on the vehicle in the 2300 block of Central, and made contact with the driver and sole occupant, identified as Gillespie, whose driver’s license was shown to be suspended.
Officer Chris McGlone had arrived to assist and asked Gillespie if there was anything in the vehicle that could hurt him and Gillespie reportedly stated, “I have a Glock under my seat.” He was removed and detained and officers allegedly located a Glock 10-mm handgun under his seat as indicated.
The vehicle was going to be towed due to Gillespie’s suspended license so officers conducted an inventory and reportedly found a lunch box in the back seat containing digital scales, 55 plastic baggies, each bearing a sticker that read, “Hope this package brightens your day!” and a pencil case with a baggie containing 31.6 grams of marijuana.
Gillespie was taken into custody at that point and agents with the 18th Judicial District East Drug Task Force were notified and responded to the scene and collected all the evidence.
Once at the detention center, it was determined Gillespie had a bench warrant out of circuit court stemming from his arrest in July which he was also served with.