Fugitive in drug case spotted at LR school
Police arrest felon carrying handgun
A convicted felon wanted by the FBI on a drug warrant was arrested at his child’s Little Rock elementary school early Thursday after another parent spotted him carrying a handgun, police said.
Zyphria Watts, 39, of 3822 W. Capitol Ave., was one of many parents attending an academic seminar at the Pulaski Heights Elementary School at 319 Pine. St. about 8:20 a.m. when another parent spotted a handgun tucked in Watts’ suspenders, according to Pam Smith, spokesman for the Little Rock School District.
His arrest at the school also marks the last arrest in a years-long federal drug investigation that culminated in a 34-count indictment earlier this year.
According to Smith, the unidentified parent who spotted the gun told a campus security officer, who then radioed the Little Rock Police Department’s resource officer at Pulaski Heights Middle School.
Police and security walked Watts off campus and found a .40-caliber pistol in his overalls, reports said.
According to Smith, Watts apologized to school officials for the incident and said he “had just returned from a hunting trip.”
Once Watts was in custody, officers ran his name and found he had a failure to
appear warrant out of Little Rock.
According to police, Watts is a felon and is being charged with possession of a weapon by a felon, as well as possession of a firearm on a school campus.
But the check on Watts’ history also revealed a “dangerous drug” warrant dating back to an April 2 indictment that links Watts to a drug operation with ties to a Mexican-cartel-sponsored drug-trafficking operation indicted this past May.
According to federal court records, Watts was one of 12 people named in a 34-count indictment that detailed a plot to distribute hundreds of kilograms of cocaine and marijuana between 2009 and this past spring.
Watts was named in three of the counts in the indictment, including conspiracy to possess and distribute marijuana and the use of a phone in a conspiracy to distribute and possess marijuana.
Of the 12 people indicted, Watts was the only one to evade capture earlier this year. Watts will have his first federal court appearance at 2 p.m. today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Joe Volpe in Little Rock.
The lead figure in the drug conspiracy that involved Watts, according to federal prosecutors, was Troy Dion Allen, who had business connections with several suspects indicted in May as a part of a drug-trafficking operation with direct ties to the Gulf drug cartel based out of Matamoros, Mexico.
Watts remained in the Pulaski County jail Thursday night with holds placed on him by both the FBI and federal court officials.
According to court records, Watts was arrested before on drug crimes, though he never served prison time.
Watts was one of three people, including his girlfriend, Brandy Wedsted, arrested by Bryant and Benton narcotics detectives after a controlled buy in a Wal-Mart parking lot.
Detectives used a confidential informant to set up a purchase of 5 ounces of “high grade” marijuana on Aug. 25, 2011 for $1,625.
The informant met a man named Ryan Reilly, who was riding with Watts. Eventually the informant came away with the drugs, and detectives moved in and made an arrest.
According to police, Watts and Wedsted’s 2-month-old child was in the truck at the time of the drug deal.
Watts denied any knowledge of the drugs or money police found in his truck and said “he had just got out of Boy Scouts with his son and was only giving Reilly a ride.”
Watts’ girlfriend denied any knowledge of drugs initially, but eventually told detectives that Watts “supplied” Reilly with the marijuana and that the couple often took their infant out to make drug deals.
Charged with felony drug possession as well as felony endangering the welfare of a minor, Watts pleaded no contest to reduced drug charges and received a year of probation.
According to state corrections officials, Watts completed the terms of his probation on schedule.