On August 27, 2024 at approximately 9:14 AM, I trooper Wade Schanzlin made contact with John Garrett Bryant during a traffic stop conducted for careless driving and defective / improper tail lamps. The vehicle involved was a red GMC Sierra, which was traveling northbound on United States Highway 167 near State Highway 172, behind me.
As the vehicle came up behind me, I observed it in my rear view mirror, cross the fog line, and drive onto the eastbound shoulder. I reduced speed and allowed Mr. Bryant to pass. When Mr. Bryant made a lane changed to merge in front of me, I observed that the vehicle’s right turn signal was not activated. I conducted a traffic stop, and observed the vehicle to have no working brake lights as it came to a stop on the shoulder.
I made contact with Mr. Bryant and asked to see his driver’s license. I asked him if he had ever been arrested and he told me in the 1990’s. During a search of his criminal background, I discovered he had a more recent charge of possession of drugs in 2013.
I asked him for consent to search the vehicle and/or his person for illegal drugs and consent was given. During a search of his front shirt pocket, I found a plastic hide-a-key container that contained a plastic bag with a white crystalline substance inside of it. I also found a capped syringe in a CD case behind the passenger seat. A field test was later conducted, and the white crystalline substance tested positive for Methamphetamine.
Mr. Bryant was transported to the Calhoun County Jail. He was charged with possession of a controlled substance (Schedule 1-2- Meth), possession of drugs paraphernalia, failure to maintain control, and defective/ improper tail lamps.
The evidence consisting of a plastic hide-a-key container that contained a plastic bag with a white crystalline substance inside of it and one capped syringe (20240827111145F1-2) was collected and stored in the State Police evidence vault in Warren Arkansas.
