Full Notification

Local woman and teen runaway arrested on felony drug charges

STEVEN MROSS
The Sentinel-Record


A traffic stop on a vehicle operating without headlights late Monday, which led to a brief chase by a Garland County sheriff’s deputy, resulted in the arrest of a local woman and a teen runaway on felony drug charges.
Kristian Leigh Westbrook, 19, who lists an address of 301 Meadowbrook St., and a 17-year-old black male, also of Hot Springs, were taken into custody around midnight and each charged with felony counts of possession of cocaine with purpose to deliver, punishable by up to 20 years in prison, possession of a controlled substance, Xanax, and possession of drug paraphernalia, each punishable by up to six years, and a misdemeanor count of possession of a controlled substance, marijuana, punishable by up to one year in jail.
Westbrook remained in custody in lieu of $11,000 bond and is set to appear March 25 in Garland County District Court. The juvenile was being held without bond and is set to appear April 4 in Garland County Juvenile Court.
The Sentinel-Record follows The Associated Press privacy policies and does not publish the names of juvenile offenders unless they are charged as adults.
According to the affidavit, around 11:15 p.m., GCSD Deputy Elwood McConnell saw a blue 2001 Chrysler Town and Country mini-van with a temporary license plate pull out of the McDonald’s parking lot at East Grand and Malvern without its headlights on.
He followed the vehicle south on Malvern and activated his lights to make a traffic stop, but the vehicle kept going, so Mc-Connell notified dispatch of the situation and activated his siren.
The vehicle continued onto Lowery Street and then Wilmont before finally turning into a driveway in the 300 block and stopping. The deputy told the driver, later identified as the 17-year-old, to put his hands out the window and didn’t notice anyone else in the vehicle. The driver indicated he was the only occupant.
A Hot Springs police officer arrived to assist and as they approached the vehicle they discovered a female, later identified as Westbrook, sitting in the front passenger seat.
McConnell asked the driver why he didn’t stop and noticed a strong odor of marijuana coming from the vehicle. He had the driver get out and patted him down and allegedly found $2,000 in his front pocket. When asked about the marijuana odor, the driver reportedly denied smoking marijuana and claimed he didn’t have anything illegal in the vehicle.
They had Westbrook get out and asked her if she had been smoking or had any contraband and she reportedly stated she had smoked marijuana about five hours earlier. It was then discovered the names the suspects had provided were false.
McConnell called for a K-9 unit which responded to the scene. At that point, Westbrook stated she had some marijuana in a backpack on the floorboard where she had been sitting earlier.
In searching the backpack, McConnell allegedly found a bag of marijuana, approximately 0.5 grams, a metal grinder and multiple Ziplock baggies. Westbrook told him all the drugs were hers and the juvenile had nothing to do with it.
The K-9 officer walked his dog around the vehicle and it alerted to possible narcotics on the driver’s side of the vehicle.
They located a backpack behind the driver’s seat which contained a plastic bag with a white crystal-like substance which later field tested positive for cocaine, approximately 9.1 grams. There was also a bag of marijuana, approximately 0.7 grams and a bag with 32 Xanax pills, three empty baggies and a digital scale.
At that point, they learned from dispatch that Westbrook had a warrant for her arrest and the juvenile was a runaway. Agents with the 18th Judicial District East Drug Task Force were notified of the situation.