Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Speeding trucker arrested for drugs

Driving 68 miles per hour in a 55 mph zone landed a Murfreesboro man in trouble.

Michael Fritts, 49, of Murfreesboro, was charged with speeding in a commercial vehicle, a misdemeanor with a possible sentence of 10 days in jail and a fine up to $500; drinking on the highway, a class C misdemeanor, with a sentence up to 30 days in jail and fine up to $100; possession of a controlled substance, namely marijuana, a class D felony with a sentence up to six years in the state prison and a fine not to exceed $10,000; and possession of an instrument of crime (a metal pipe used for smoking marijuana), a class A misdemeanor with a sentence up to a year in jail and fine up to $1,000.

According to court records, Nevada County Sheriff's deputy Danny Martin was working traffic on Highway 19 recently, when he saw a loaded log truck headed north at a high rate of speed.

Martin clocked the truck's speed on radar, with it registering 68 mph. The speed limit on state highways in Arkansas is 55.

He stopped the truck, driven by Fritts, running a check on the driver, but it turned up no wants or warrants.

However, as the driver approached Martin, the deputy smelled the odor of marijuana and alcohol.

Martin advised Fritts he had to be searched, with the deputy finding a lump in the right watch pocket of Fritts' pants. He asked Fritts if the lump was marijuana and was told yes, and there was a pipe in his other pocket.

Fritts was placed under arrest, with Martin continuing the search. However, there was no pipe on Fritts' person.

Martin did find three small packages of marijuana.

When he searched the truck, Martin found an open container of beer along with a 30-pack.

Fritts was given a portable breath test, registering 0.01.

Martin, during the search, found a homemade metal pipe in the ashtray.

The truck, owned by Bobby Cox Logging of Dierks, was impounded, with Fritts taken to the Nevada County jail.

A further background check showed Fritts had been charged with misdemeanor possession of marijuana, less than an ounce, in 1997, and had entered a guilty plea in the case.