Allegedly drunken driver fights trooper
An allegedly drunken driver found passed out in his vehicle was soon facing multiple felony charges late Tuesday after multiple drugs were reportedly found in his possession and he fought with an Arkansas State Police trooper.
Stacy Glenn Cranford, 52, who lists a Bismarck address, was taken into custody around 11:30 p.m. and charged with two counts of possession of a controlled substance with purpose to deliver, involving meth and Xanax, each punishable by up to 10 years in prison, delivery of a controlled substance, oxycodone, and possession of drug paraphernalia, each punishable by up to six years in prison, and a misdemeanor count of possession of marijuana with intent to deliver.
Cranford was also charged with misdemeanor counts of driving while intoxicated, drugs, second offense, resisting arrest, driving on a suspended license and refusal to submit to a chemical test and had a warrant for failure to comply.
Cranford was later released on a $19,500 bond and is set to appear March 27 in Garland County District Court.
The affidavit notes Cranford has felony convictions from May 6, 1987; April 13, 1992; May 17, 1994; March 1, 1995; and April 5, 2003; and court records show he was convicted on Dec. 27, 2010, in Hot Spring County of possession with intent to manufacture meth and possession of a firearm by certain persons and sentenced to five years in prison.
According to the probable cause affidavit, around 11:15 p.m. Tuesday, ASP Trooper Justin Parker was patrolling in the area of Highway 7 south near Harps Foods when he saw a maroon Chevrolet Silverado sitting in the exit of the grocery store with the engine running and the white male driver, later identified as Cranford, “passed out behind the wheel.”
Parker approached and tapped on the driver’s window, but Cranford did not respond. He tapped again and identified himself and Cranford “jumped” and “slowly became responsive,” finally rolling down the window partially.
Parker notes he could smell alcohol and marijuana coming from the vehicle and that Cranford “spoke in a low raspy tone” and had bloodshot, watery eyes and appeared “groggy and disoriented.” When asked about consuming alcohol, he reportedly stated he did have a few alcoholic beverages earlier.
He asked Cranford to exit the truck and as he did so, he allegedly kicked a glass pipe lying on the floorboard. Once at the back of the truck, Cranford was instructed to remove his head covering to perform some field sobriety tests and he allegedly became disgruntled and said, “(Expletive) that!”
When asked again to remove his headgear, he again stated, “No, (expletive) that!,” so Parker grabbed his right arm to take him into custody for DWI. At that point, Cranford allegedly tensed and pulled away, so Parker took him to the ground where he refused to put his hands behind his back and began “actively resisting.”
Parker states he deployed his Taser in Cranford’s back, but he continued to resist and grabbed the Taser. Parker used the Taser again and ordered him to stop resisting, but he continued struggling and again grabbed the Taser and tried to pull it away. At that point, Parker states he “drive-stunned” him in the upper right chest area.
A bystander came along and assisted Parker in taking Cranford into custody. In searching his person, Parker allegedly found 2.5 Xanax bars, 13 oxycodone pills, two glass pipes with residue, two bags of marijuana, a total of 7.8 grams, 1.1 grams of marijuana wax, 1.6 grams of what later tested positive for meth, and $3,750 in cash.
Agents with the 18th Judicial District East Drug Task Force were notified and later assumed the investigation.