It started off with speeding, and it didn’t get any better for a Magnolia, Ark. man after a traffic stop in Batesville early this morning.
According to the incident report, Independence County Sheriff’s Deputy Bobby Tate observed a white GMC Sierra pickup traveling south on St. Louis Street at a speed of 73 mph in a 35 mph zone around 12:40 this morning. Tate gave pursuit, and the truck pulled over to the side of the road in the 500 block of Batesville Boulevard.
The driver, identified as Robert Lynn Pollard (pictured), 20, of Magnolia, was driving without a valid driver’s license and could not provide proof of insurance and registration, according to the report.
And a computer check not only found Pollard had an active warrant out of Sharp County and was on active supervised parole with a search waiver on file, but it reported the truck Pollard was driving was owned by Atlas Asphalt, the report said.
When asked by the deputy if he was employed by Atlas Asphalt, Pollard told Tate he was not.
Tate reported Pollard initially said a friend let him borrow the truck to look for a job, but Pollard later told the deputy he found the truck in the Evening Shade area and took it to go “joy riding.”
Deputies said when searches of Pollard and the truck were made, they found drug paraphernalia and a handgun. The latter find immediately became a felony charge for Pollard — a previously convicted felon in possession of a firearm.
Before the discovery of the firearm, Pollard told authorities several times that “he was in over his head and that he could not go back to prison,” the report said.
Pollard was taken to jail and placed on an investigative hold. He is facing several charges including possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of a firearm by a certain person, speeding, reckless driving, and driving without a driver’s license.
Image via Independence County Sheriff’s Department
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