Texas woman charged with trying to bring drugs into courthouse
A Texas woman was arrested on multiple felony charges Tuesday after she allegedly tried to enter the Garland County Court House with meth, cocaine, ecstasy and marijuana in her purse.
Sarah Renee Hill, 56, who lists a Queens City, Texas, address, was taken into custody around 3:45 p.m. Tuesday at the courthouse, located at 501 Ouachita Ave., and charged with possession of meth with purpose to deliver, punishable by up to 30 years in prison, possession of ecstasy with purpose to deliver, punishable by up to 20 years, possession of cocaine with purpose to deliver, punishable by up to 10 years, possession of marijuana with purpose to deliver, punishable by up to six years, and a misdemeanor count of possession of drug paraphernalia, punishable by up to one year in jail.
Hill was being held on a $22,000 bond and was set to appear Wednesday in Garland County District Court.
According to the probable cause affidavit, Garland County sheriff’s Deputy Colt Sharp was working his assigned post at the front entrance of the courthouse when he made contact with Hill, who was needing to get into the building to go to the Garland County clerk’s office.
Sharp asked her to place her purse and any items she had in her pockets on the table. Asked if she had any pocket knives, pepper spray or other such items, Hill stated she did have a knife. She removed her wallet and an eyeglasses case from her purse and then removed and handed the deputy a knife.
Sharp cleared the purse and had her put her wallet back inside and then asked her for the eyeglasses case so he could clear it of any weapons. As he reached for it, Hill allegedly tried to remove it, but he was able to gain control of it.
He unzipped the case and noticed a “green plant-like substance” and a “white crystal-like substance” inside. At that point, he put the eyeglasses case back into the purse and detained Hill in a chair until Deputy Angie Lambert came and took her into custody.
Once at the detention center, Sharp and Deputy Candice Presley checked the items found in the glasses case which included three baggies of what later tested positive for meth, a total of 12.3 grams; two baggies of what later tested positive for cocaine, a total of 1.6 grams; multiple pills determined to be ecstasy or MDMA, a total of 6.3 grams; and a baggy and four rolled joints of marijuana, a total of 14.5 grams.
Also located inside the eyeglasses case was a glass smoking pipe wrapped in a paper towel.