HOT SPRINGS -- A Lake Hamilton Intermediate School reading aide was arrested Tuesday at her home on drug charges.
Belinda Ann Stengel, 63, of Royal, and Caden Anthony Beard, 29, who lists a Higdon Ferry Road address, were arrested at 4:40 p.m. Tuesday. Each was charged with simultaneous possession of drugs and firearms, punishable by up to life in prison; possession of a Schedule VI controlled substance with purpose to deliver, punishable by up to 10 years; and possession of drug paraphernalia, punishable by up to six years.
Stengel also was charged with maintaining a drug premises, punishable by up to 10 years.
Stengel and Beard are scheduled to appear May 2 in Garland County District Court.
"The Lake Hamilton School District is aware of the situation involving one of our district paraprofessional employees being arrested off campus at their private residence," Lake Hamilton Superintendent Steve Anderson said. "To our knowledge at this time, the charges are in no way connected to the school or our students. The employee in question is not on campus at this time and as with all personnel matters, this will be handled according to policy and legal guidelines."
According to the affidavit, detectives with the Little Rock Police Department narcotics squad conducted a random package check using a drug-sniffing dog at the UPS location at 5501 Fourche Dam Pike. The dog indicated the presence of a narcotic in four cardboard packages addressed to "Austin, Thomas, Billy and Michael" at 309 Boulder Road in Royal. After obtaining a search warrant, detectives discovered approximately 5 pounds of marijuana shipped from Denver.
Officers from the 18th Judicial Circuit-East Drug Task Force conducted a controlled delivery to Stengel, who signed for the packages, the affidavit said. At 4:36 p.m., the drug task force, Arkansas State Police and the Garland County Tactical Response Team executed a search warrant at the Boulder Road residence.
Investigators reported finding four boxes containing 5 pounds of marijuana; two jars with 10 grams of suspected marijuana; a small bag with 0.5 gram of suspected marijuana; a loaded Smith & Wesson .38-caliber handgun; a loaded .22-caliber rifle; three smoking devices; a package containing 2.42 ounces of suspected marijuana edibles; vacuum sealers and bags; grow lights and bulbs; two iPhones; marijuana growing instructions; miscellaneous growing materials; and paperwork listing the residence as Stengel's.
Stengel is listed on the school district's website as a paraprofessional in special education at the intermediate school.
State Desk on 04/23/2016