A $25,000 bond was set Monday for a man who said he was hitchhiking to Louisiana after prison guards found suspected methamphetamine in his backpack.
Pine Bluff District Judge John Kearney set the bond after ruling prosecutors have probable cause to charge Joshua Winkler, 38, with possession of methamphetamine with purpose to deliver and introducing prohibited articles into a correctional facility.
According to a probable cause affidavit from State Police Special Agent Oscar Bullard, two K-9 sergeants who were conducting visitation checkpoints at the Randall Williams Unit saw Winkler, who was not in a vehicle and was acting suspiciously on the parking lot of the prison unit.
When the two approached Winkler, he was sitting on a picnic table at on the prison grounds and had a black backpack with him.
Bullard reported that the officers conducted a pat down search of Winkler for their safety, and also searched the backpack, where they found a clear plastic sandwich bag containing 28 grams of suspected methamphetamine with a street value of $2,800.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
When Winkler was interviewed, he allegedly said he thought the substance was bath salt that he was going to soak his feet in because he was going to do a lot of walking. He also said he had gotten a ride to Pine Bluff.
According to the affidavit, Winkler had a lengthy criminal history from Minnesota.
The suspected drugs will be sent to the Arkansas State Crime Laboratory for analysis.