Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

I-30 Incident Turns Into Drug Arrest

Erratic driving on Interstate-30, with truck drivers working to get a silver Cadillac stopped wound up with a drug arrest recently.

According to court records, the Prescott Police Department got a call about a disturbance at the 57 mile marker on I-30. This location is just inside the Clark County line, but officer Steve Gulick was dispatched to investigate.

He set up at exit 46, with the Cadillac pulling off the interstate and heading south on Highway 19. The report states the driver, Andrew Hill, failed to stop at the stop sign on the exit.

Gulick tried to stop the vehicle, but was unable to. However, an unidentified truck driver blocked the overpass with his semi, forcing Hill to stop.

Before this, though, Gulick noticed the driver and passenger switch places.

As he approached the car, he heard Hill saying obscene things about him and the trucker who had forced the stop. Hill, according to the report, was also belligerent.

Gulick noticed the odor of alcohol on Hill when he got to the car, and saw he had trouble standing when told to get out of the car.

Hill was searched, with Gulick finding a brown, plastic medicine bottle containing a substance believed to be Xanax. He was placed under arrest.

Gulick then went to talk with the passenger, Laurie White, who said Hill had furnished party mix and vodka, with both drinking.

White also smelled of alcohol, the report stated, and became belligerent herself.

Both were taken to the Nevada County Sheriff's Office, where Hill was charged with possession of a controlled substance, a class C felony with a 3-10 year sentence and fine up to $10,000.

He was also charged with his fourth offense of driving while intoxicated, refusing to take a breath test, driving on a suspended license, disorderly conduct and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

White was not charged with any criminal offense and was released.