A pre-preliminary hearing has been set for one of two men facing child endangerment and drug-related charges following their arrest recently by Lincoln County deputies in the parking lot of a store at U.S. 177 and U.S. 62.
Blake Michael Barrett, 21,was formally charged in Lincoln County District Court on Sep. 13 with two felonies and a misdemeanor.
The felonies accuse him of child endangerment by driving under the influence and possession of a Schedule IV Controlled Dangerous Substance with the intent to distribute.
The misdemeanor Barrett faces is unlawful possession of marijuana.
Also charged with felony child endangerment was Khalili Steele, 23, no address listed. He was also charged with felony possession of a Schedule IV CDS with the intent to distribute.
Barrett appeared Sep. 12 before Associate District Judge Sheila Kirk and she set his bond at $4,000. The judge scheduled his initial appearance for Oct. 13.
On that date, he made his initial appearance before Special Judge Emily Mueller and she scheduled his prepreliminary hearing for 1:30 p.m. Nov. 17.
Steele also appeared before Judge Kirk on the same day as Butler. She also set his bond at $4,000. He made initial appearance on Sep. 29 before Special Judge Emily Mueller.
The judge scheduled his pre-preliminary hearing for 1:30 p.m. Nov. 17.
In Count 1, Barrett is charged on Sep. 10 this year with driving a Saturn Auto car on U.S. 177 and on other public roads and highways in Lincoln County when he was under the influence of an intoxicating substance while transporting in the car a one-year-old child, the initials which are LS.
He was also charged on the same day at Lawson’s Store located at that location of possessing more than 40 tablets containing Alprazolam, also known as Xanax, a Schedule IV CDS, with the intent to distribute the substance while acting in concert with Steele.
The misdemeanor charges him with unlawful possession of marijuana while at the store.
In a probable cause affidavit, Deputy Sheriff Gage Elder states he was dispatched to a call of a reckless driver at 337075 U.S. 62, Meeker. The reporting party had notified the dispatcher that there was a baby in the car and when the two occupants got out of the car at the store, they couldn’t walk straight and were stumbling around.
Elder reported that Deputies Steven Hinkle and Shawn Stewart started toward the scene and that Hinkle told Meeker Police Officers Raymond Mackin and Marshall Jones to begin heading that way since they were closer than any of the deputies en route.
As the investigation unfolded, both Barrett and Steele were transported to the Lincoln County Jail in Chandler and the Department of Human Services was notified. The DHS came and picked up the child and since she had fallen off the counter at the store, she needed to be taken to the hospital for evaluation.