MURFREESBORO, AR – Three people are in the Pike County Jail after being picked up during a traffic stop that led to a moonshine bust.
It happened on Feb. 11 in the Glenwood area.
The Pike County Sheriff’s Office says the case unfolded after an SUV with expired tags was pulled over by an officer on patrol.
While the officer requested license, registration and insurance information from the driver, he noted that two passengers in the car seemed especially nervous. The pair reportedly were recognized by the officer, who said they gave him fake names. The officer said they identified themselves as Brittney Allen and Matt Cowart, but he knew their real names were Jocelyn Brooke Hope, 35, and Bennie Earl Davis, 32.
Davis was then asked to step out of the car, at which time he told the officer he lied about his name because he had warrants out for his arrest. After taking the man into custody, a search of the vehicle found that the women had illicit prescription medication and methamphetamine in their possession.
A search warrant was then obtained for an apartment in Glenwood. That’s where the sheriff’s office says deputies found methamphetamine, digital scales, paraphernalia for the ingestion of methamphetamine and other narcotic substances, and a homemade still for the production of illicit grain alcohol commonly referred to as moonshine.
When the women were interviewed a short time later, Hope reportedly admitted to the dealing of methamphetamine out of the apartment and said that Davis made moonshine in the still.
They’re both now being held on $75,000 bond and are charged with Maintaining a drug premises, Possession of Methamphetamine with purpose to deliver, Possession of drug paraphernalia and Manufacture, possession, and transportation (for the illicit still).
The driver of the vehicle pulled over in the traffic stop is identified as Michele Garrison, 45. She has been charged with Possession of controlled substance, methamphetamine and Possession of controlled substance without prescription.
