3 Jailed On Controlled Substance Charges Monday

Three people were jailed on controlled substance charges Monday, Sept. 28, and 3 others on controlled substance or related charges from Sept. 25-28, according to arrest reports.

Houston Street Traffic Stop

Hopkins County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Chris Baumann and Sgt. Tanner Steward arrested 2 Sulphur Springs women around 7:45 p.m. Monday, Sept. 28 on controlled substance charge.

The deputies reported stopping 48-year-old Carrie Elizabeth Vaughan at 7:38 p.m. on Houston Street at South Davis Street for failing to signal 100 feet prior to a turn. She agreed to an officer search the Pontiac Solstice.

When asked to step out of the car to wait, she attempted to take a purse with her; she was asked to leave it in the car, according to arrest reports. The passenger in the car, 24-year-old Rebekah Liann Feagan, also was asked to exit the vehicle.

Officers allegedly found a glass pipe with suspected methamphetamine inside of a make-up bag on the passenger floorboard and a small bag with a crystal-like substance the deputy believed to be methamphetamine in the black purse left on the driver’s seat. Both women reportedly claimed the make-up bag. Vaughan claimed the purse but denied ownership of the substance, deputies alleged in arrest reports.

Deputies reported Feagan began making furtive movements and digging in her waistband while they finished their search of the vehicle. A scan of the area in which the woman had been detained allegedly revealed under the bumper a bag containing a scale, 3 syringes and cigarette case containing a bag with a crystal-like substance the sheriff’s office believed to be methamphetamine and other drug paraphernalia.

The crystal-like substance found in the purse field-tested positive for methamphetamine and weighed 1.221 grams, including packaging. Consequently, Vaughan was arrested for possession of 1 gram or more but less than 4 grams of a Penalty Group 1 controlled substance charge, according to arrest reports.

While Feagan was being booked into the county jail, corrections officers reported finding additional drug paraphernalia and a brown substance suspected to be heroin in a black face mask Fegan had on her. The crystal-like substance field-tested positive for meth while the brown substance field-tested positive for heroin; both weighed 0.984 grams, including packaging, deputies alleged in arrest reports.

Consequently, Feagan was booked on two possession of less than 1 gram of a Penalty Group 1 controlled substance, one each for the suspect meth and heroin, as well as for tampering with or fabricating physical evidence, according to arrest reports.

Vaughan, who is also known by Elizabeth Saffel, Kerry Saffel and Carrie Vaughn, remained in Hopkins County jail Tuesday morning. Bond on the controlled substance charge was set at $10,000, according to jail reports.

Feagan also later had a city failure to maintain financial responsibility warrant added to her list of charges. She remained in the county jail Tuesday morning in lieu of $10,000 on the tampering with evidence charge, $5,000 each on the two controlled substance charges, according to jail reports.

Mockingbird Lane Traffic Stop

Sulphur Springs Police Officer Nick Floyd stopped a Saturn VUE just after 4 p.m. Sept. 28 in the 1400 block of Mockingbird Lane for a traffic stop.

A records check showed the driver, 45-year-old Christopher Lee Whitaker of Sulphur Springs, to have an outstanding warrant for his arrest. Whitaker was taken into custody and jailed for bond forfeiture on a manufacture or delivery of 1 gram or more but less than 4 grams of a Penalty Group 1 controlled substance.

Whitaker was originally arrested on June 27, 2019 on a manufacture or delivery warrant. He was a passenger in a vehicle stopped on State Highway 19 north. A records check revealed the warrant; he remained in Hopkins County jail until Aug. 10, 2019 on that charge, sheriff’s deputies noted in the 2019 arrest reports.

The 45-year-old Sulphur Springs man remained in Hopkins County jail Tuesday morning, Sept. 45, for bond forfeiture on the charge. Whitaker’s new bond was set at $60,000, which is twice his original bond, according to jail reports.

SH 154 South Vehicle Check

Hopkins County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Jason Lavender stopped to check on what appeared to him to be a running vehicle parked on the shoulder of State Highway 154 south near County Road 1174 just before 9 a.m. Sept. 25. However, upon approach, Lavender reported seeing a white male who appeared to be asleep in the driver’s seat.

When awakened, Lavender said he asked Russell James Whited to step out of the pickup without reaching for anything to speak to the deputy. The 48-year-old Quitman man allegedly grabbed at something on his right side multiple times. As Whited stepped out, Lavender reported seeing a glass pipe of the type used to smoke methamphetamine on the driver’s seat.

Lavender then located a zipper pouch containing a white, crystal-like substance which field-tested positive for meth and weighed 1.22 grams, including packing, on the floor behind the console during a probable cause search of the vehicle, the deputy alleged in arrest reports.

Consequently, Whited was charged with possession of 1 gram or more but less than 4 grams of a Penalty Group 1 controlled substance. He was released from Hopkins County jail on Sept. 27, 2020. Bond was set at $10,000, according to jail reports.

The arrest marked the second time in just over a month Whited has spent time in Hopkins County jail on a controlled substance charge. He was arrested Aug. 20, 2020 for possession of less than 1 gram of a controlled substance after being stopped for nearly striking a sheriff’s patrol vehicle on FM 1567. He was found to be in possession of a substance that field-tested positive for meth on Aug. 20 as well, according to sheriff’s reports. He was released from Hopkins County jail Aug. 21, on a $5,000 bond on that charge, according to jail reports.

Whitworth Street Warrant Arrest

HCSO Cpl. Todd Evans and Chief Deputy Tanner Crump went to a Whitworth Street residence, where a wanted 55-year-old woman was located.

The sheriff’s officer took Leanna Kay Lane Stroup into custody at 10:30 a.m. Sept. 25 and transported her to jail, where she was booked on the warrant for violation of probation, which she was on for a possession of controlled substance charge.

Stroup remained in Hopkins County jail Tuesday, Sept. 29, on the charge. Sept. 25 marked the second time in 2020 that she’s spent time in the county jail. She was also arrested Jan. 11 for criminal trespass, a warrant for criminal trespass and a warrant for theft of property by check. She was released from jail Feb. 5 on $1,000 bond per charge for those offense, according to jail reports.

Carter Street Warrant Arrest

Sulphur Springs Police Officers received a tip that a wanted Sulphur Springs man could be located at a Carter Street residence. Police located Jackson Blaze Gilreath and took him into custody at 7:37 p.m. Sept. 26 on four warrants, SSPD Officer Silas Whaley noted in arrest reports.

Gilreath, 24, was booked into Hopkins County jail, for surety off bond on a tampering with or fabricating physical evidence charge, a manufacture or delivery of less than 28 grams of a Penalty Group 3/4 controlled substance charge, manufacture or delivery of less than 1 gram of a Penalty Group 1 controlled substance and possession of less than 1 gram of a Penalty Group 1 controlled substance.

The possession of less than 1 gram of a Penalty Group 1 controlled substance charge and tampering with or fabricating physical evidence charge were alleged to have occurred and resulted in his arrest on July 8. He also was jailed in July 2020 on the two manufacture or delivery charges. He remained in the county jail until Aug. 5, according to jail reports.

Gilreath remained in Hopkins County jail Sept. 29 on the surety off bond charges. He will need to secure $60,000 in bonds in order to be released from the county jail, according to jail reports.

If you have an emergency, dial 9-1-1

The Hopkins County Sheriff’s Office is located at 298 Rosemont Sulphur Springs, TX 75482. You can reach them for non-emergency matters at (903) 438-4040.