Woman arrested in mailbox thefts
An Alexander woman faces felony charges after North Little Rock police say they caught her Tuesday with mail stolen from mailboxes at various apartment complexes, according to an arrest report.
An officer investigating break-ins at a large number of mailboxes at the Lexington Park apartment complex was shown video of a woman believed to be the culprit.
The officer decided to check nearby apartments and encountered Meredith Newton, 40, near the mail room at the Fountaine Bleau apartments. Newton matched the woman in the video, and her vehicle also matched the one seen in the video, police said.
About 15 mailboxes at the complex had been recently pried open, a search of the room and a conversation with the complex manager determined.
Newton was detained, and a search of her car turned up drug paraphernalia, identification and phone belonging to Newton, two pry bars and a large quantity of mail that was not addressed to Newton, including mail addressed to Lexington Park apartments, police said.
Newton complained of chest pain and thought she might be having a heart attack, so she was taken to an area hospital for screening before being transferred to the Pulaski County jail.
Drugs, rifle found in car after arrest
Jacksonville Police on Thursday arrested a man who they say had drugs he planned to sell and an AR-15 rifle with several magazines of ammunition, according to an arrest report.
Just before 2 a.m., an officer spotted Deswyck Daniels, 26, of Sontag, Miss., slumped over in the seat of his car in a parking spot at the Eagle Suites at 920 S. First St.
The officer spotted suspected marijuana and a scale on the center console, and when Daniels woke up and opened the door he was detained.
A search turned up bags of suspected marijuana, a scale, labels with names of types of marijuana on them, about $1,800 cash and an AR-15 short-barreled rifle with a magazine loaded and several more in the car, police said.
Daniels was arrested and faces two felony drug and firearm charges.
Two men arrested in car-part thefts
Arkansas State Police troopers arrested two men in separate incidents early Thursday who police say were stealing catalytic converters from cars on the side of interstates 430 and 630, according to arrest reports.
Just after 2 a.m., a trooper on Interstate 430 northbound near Mile Marker 4 spotted two vehicles parked on the side of the road, one with a jack underneath. The trooper encountered Justin Cook, 28, of Cabot, wearing a headlamp and gloves.
Cook told the trooper that one car, a Mazda with fictitious license plate tags, was his, and he was having car trouble. In Cook's car, the trooper found a glass smoking pipe, methamphetamine, a saw and a Nissan branded catalytic converter, the report said.
The front vehicle, a Nissan, was missing its converter and had fresh cut marks where the part, which is often stolen because of the value of the precious metals inside, should have been.
Cook is charged with four felonies, including theft of property, criminal mischief and drug charges.
Later that morning, around 4:30, another trooper on Interstate 630 eastbound at Mile Marker 5, spotted a man later identified as Roderick Hicks, 46, of Little Rock, under a Nissan Versa using a saw to remove the car's catalytic converter. Another converter that had already been cut away was in Hicks' vehicle, police said.
Hicks faces felony theft of property and criminal mischief charges.