Impaired driver allegedly found with gun, pills, half-pound of THC edibles
A Booneville woman was arrested Wednesday on multiple felony charges after she was pulled over for allegedly driving while impaired and found in possession of a loaded gun, 126 various prescription pills and over half a pound of THC edibles.
Ivy Leigh Slagle, 43, who lists no prior criminal history, was taken into custody around 7 a.m. and charged with simultaneous possession of drugs and a firearm, punishable by up to life in prison, two felony counts of possession of a controlled substance involving marijuana and Adderall, each punishable by up to six years in prison, and misdemeanor counts of possession of a controlled substance, involving the other pills, and driving while intoxicated, first offense, punishable by up to one year in jail.
Slagle, who was also cited for careless and prohibited driving, remained in custody Thursday on a zero bond and is set to appear today in Garland County District Court.
According to the probable cause affidavit, around 4:15 a.m., Hot Springs police Officer John Albright was on his way to a training exercise when he made a traffic stop on a black 2017 Honda Civic in the 200 block of Airport Road after reportedly seeing it swerve outside the traffic lanes.
Officer 1st Class Joel Crook responded to assist and take over the stop since Albright was off-duty and on his way to training. Crook made contact with the driver, identified as Slagle, and noted there was no odor of alcohol, but Slagle had slightly slurred speech.
When asked, Slagle said she was “just extremely fatigued.” Due to her slurred speech and the earlier swerving, Crook administered the visual field sobriety test to Slagle and didn’t observe any signs of impairment so he released her.
Slagle continued driving west on Airport and Crook was behind her and reportedly observed her swerving “a bit,” but never outside the traffic lane. He continued to monitor her driving until she got to Lakeshore Drive where he allegedly saw her “swerving more severely,” going outside the lanes and almost off the road.
At that point, he stopped her again and administered some additional field sobriety tests including the walk and turn and one leg stand which she allegedly failed, so she was taken into custody at that time for DWI.
Slagle indicated she wished to take her purse with her to jail so it was searched and officers reportedly found a red foil bag, a plastic bag and a plastic glove all containing various colored THC edible products, a total of 283 grams, or about 0.6 pounds. Also found were 30 alprazolam pills, five Adderall pills, three sildenafil pills, 21 diclofenac pills, 15 cyclobenzeprine pills, 18 cymbalta pills, 14 Gabapentin pills, 15 buspirone pills, five doxepin pills, and another 91.5 grams of Gabapentin in a bottle.
During an inventory search of the vehicle, a Springfield XD9 9-mm handgun was found between the driver’s seat and center console. One magazine was loaded and inside the gun and a second loaded magazine was also found.
While en route to the jail, Crook noted Slagle was in the back seat of his unit “slumped over and snoring.” After arriving at the jail, it was noted “her condition and level of impairment continued to get worse.”
She consented to a Breathalyzer test which reportedly registered her blood alcohol content at 0.0%, but she agreed to provide a urine sample which was sent to the state crime lab for further analysis.
While doing her paperwork during the booking process, Slagle allegedly continued to fall asleep and “had to be asked questions several times to get a coherent response.” Her condition continued to get worse and at one point she reportedly fell asleep in the middle of signing her name so officers stopped the paperwork.