Judge rejects plea deal in drug case | Man accused of throwing meth from car while fleeing police

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NWA Media/Michael Woods --08/09/2014-- w @NWAMICHAELW... University of Arkansas defensive back Deatrich Wise gets ready to run drills Saturday morning at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville.

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NWA Media/MICHAEL WOODS --08/11/2013-- University of Arkansas running backs (left to right) Alex Collins, Kiero Small, Jonathan Williams, and Kody Walker.

TEXARKANA, Texas - A Bowie County district judge Tuesday rejected a five-year plea deal for a man accused of tossing methamphetamine from car windows while fleeing from police.

Christopher Demarcus Nard, 35, was arrested March 6 by Texarkana, Texas, police who were acting on information that Nard was in the process of delivering a substantial quantity of methamphetamine at Bringle Park East, a public park in Texarkana, Texas, according to a probable cause affidavit.

Officers were watching as Nard allegedly failed to use a signal as he turned into a parking lot in a red 2008 Kia Optima and officers moved in to block him in marked patrol units.

"Due to Nard's criminal history of assault on a public servant, evading arrest/detention, unlawful possession of a firearm and delivery of a controlled substance, I exited my vehicle with my weapon drawn and pointed at the car," said the officer writing the affidavit..

The officers noticed a woman, Alyssa Deanne Womack, 26, sitting in the passenger seat of Nard's car as Nard began a "slow roll" and then jumped a curb, driving into some pine trees. The Kia reportedly entered onto University Drive and began to drive south towards Richmond Road.

Nard and his female passenger allegedly began throwing methamphetamine from the car as it traveled. A coke bottle and a bag of suspected meth were allegedly tossed from the passenger side and into the roadway. As one officer attempted to collect the alleged evidence being tossed from the car's front windows, another maintained pursuit at speeds reaching approximately 45 miles per hour.

Nard reportedly came to a stop and surrendered to police in the parking lot of Big Jake's Barbecue in the 5700 block of Richmond Road. Nard allegedly stuck both hands out of the window before being removed from the car by police. As an officer cuffed Nard and rolled him over checking for weapons, he allegedly noticed shards of methamphetamine on the concrete beneath Nard and on his pants.

Womack allegedly admitted to having four Xanax pills in her underwear which she removed and handed to officers. She allegedly admitted to throwing the coke bottle out of the car which was hurled along with a bag of suspected meth.

The interior of Nard's car was allegedly "covered" with shards of methamphetamine that officers tried to collect. In all, the officers were able to recover more than 43 grams of suspected methamphetamine from the car and roadway. Some of the suspected drugs were destroyed in the road during the chase.

Nard has been in custody since his arrest March 6 with bail totaling $55,000. Womack was released March 9 on $18,000 in personal recognizance bonds.

At a hearing Tuesday, 5th District Judge Bill Miller refused to accept a plea agreement in Nard's case for three concurrent five-year terms on charges of possession of methamphetamine, tampering with physical evidence and evading arrest in a vehicle for which he was indicted in April by a Bowie County grand jury. After Miller's rejection of the plea agreement, Assistant Public Defender Sylvia Delgado entered pleas of not guilty to the charges on Nard's behalf.

Miller set the case for a pretrial hearing June 22 and said he hopes to be able to set the case for trial at that time in light of a statewide suspension of in-person jury selections stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Before the hearing ended, Nard attempted to assume blame and exonerate Womack.

"They got my girl involved in this and she didn't have nothing to do with it. She thought she was just going to get something to eat. She ain't got nothing to do with this," Nard said.

Miller advised Nard to discuss the case with his lawyer and warned him not to make on-the-record statements that could be used against him in court.

Womack's case is scheduled for a preindictment hearing June 22 before Miller.

Womack's case has not yet been presented to a grand jury. Her only pending criminal charge is tampering with physical evidence.

Nard faces five to 99 years or life in prison if found guilty of possession of methamphetamine, more than four but less than 200 grams. Both of his other charges, tampering and evading, are punishable by two to 10 years in prison should he be convicted.

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