A probationer who was reportedly "staggering into traffic" while walking down the road Friday morning was arrested on felony and misdemeanor charges after drugs were allegedly found on him.
Shawn Allan Norwood, 37, who lists a Malvern address, was taken into custody around 9:45 a.m. and charged with possession of a controlled substance, meth, a felony punishable by up to six years in prison, and possession of drug paraphernalia, a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail.
Norwood was initially held on a $3,500 bond, but after appearing in Garland County District Court on Monday his bond was lowered to $3,000 with a felony review hearing set for Dec. 20. He remained in custody as of Tuesday.
According to court records, Norwood was convicted of residential burglary and first-degree criminal mischief on Feb. 18, 2020, in Garland County and sentenced to five years' supervised probation, and on Nov. 13, 2020, in Saline County of aggravated assault on a family or household member and aggravated assault and sentenced to three years in prison.
According to the probable cause affidavit, shortly before 9 a.m. Friday, Hot Springs police Officer Juan Diaz responded to the area of Malvern Avenue and Carpenter Dam Road for a welfare check.
Dispatchers said a white man wearing jeans and holding a black backpack was "staggering into traffic" in that area. Diaz located the man, later identified as Norwood, in the 2400 block of Malvern and noted he was walking in the middle of the roadway and "unsteady on his feet."
A computer check showed Norwood was on probation with a search waiver on file so Diaz searched him and allegedly found a small baggie in his jeans pocket that contained 0.6 grams of what later tested positive for meth. He also reportedly found a used needle inside the backpack he "knew to be used to inject controlled substances."
Norwood was taken into custody at that point and booked into the jail shortly before 11 a.m.