A traffic stop last month in Miller County has led to charges of drug possession and child endangerment for the driver and a passenger.
A Miller County Sheriff's Office deputy pulled over a 2004 Chevy Impala with an allegedly expired license plate as it traveled west on Miller County 18 at about 11 p.m. Feb. 23, according to a probable cause affidavit used to create the following account. Mindy Floyd, 31, was driving and Mark Choate, 48, was the only passenger.
Floyd was allegedly driving with a suspended license and the deputy reported a strong odor of marijuana. Floyd gave the officer permission to search the Impala.
Inside the car, the deputy found, "a partial marijuana cigarette inside a green cigarette box, a plastic baggy containing suspected marijuana in a black and pink woman's wallet, a multicolored glass pipe with residue which is commonly used to ingest narcotics, a digital scale in the front passenger side door, a partial marijuana cigarette in the front passenger floor, medical clamps with burnt residue, and in the back of the vehicle above the back seat I located a box containing a glass jar," the affidavit states.
The jar allegedly contained a small plastic bag of suspected marijuana, a small bag of suspected methamphetamine and another bag with a "dark colored residue" inside.
"It should be noted the odor of marijuana inside the car was very strong throughout the entire vehicle, even in the trunk," the affidavit states.
The couple's two-year-old daughter was strapped into a child safety seat in the rear with the jar allegedly containing suspected meth and marijuana just above her head. Both Floyd and Choate were taken into custody and the toddler was released to human services.
Both Floyd and Choate were arrested for felony possession of a controlled substance, misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia and endangering the welfare of a minor.