Norfork woman facing charges after found passed out in vehicle, nearly hitting deputy while fleeing

A Baxter County woman, with a lengthy criminal history, is behind bars again after she was found passed out or asleep in her vehicle recently, nearly hit a deputy when she fled the scene, drove into a creek, fled on foot and had enough drugs in her vehicle to pick up a trafficking charge. Forty-one-year-old Ashley Dawn Garris of Norfork also had warrant out of Mountain Home from October for drug charges when she was arrested Monday in the Baxter County Circuit Court room.

According to the probable cause affidavit from the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded to a business on Arkansas State Highway 201 South May 16. When they arrived, one of the deputies was able to rouse Garris by knocking on her vehicle window.

Garris refused to unlock her doors and when asked for her driver’s license, only rolled her window down far enough to hand it to one of the deputies. It was discovered she had a warrant and when the deputy informed her of this, Garris rolled her window back up and started the vehicle. The deputies hollered for her not to take off. One of the deputies was standing in front of the vehicle as Garris took off at a high rate of speed and had to jump out of the way to avoid being hit. Garris left the parking lot and drove through the ditch onto Hicks Road.

The deputies began the pursuit which was short lived, only seven tenths of a mile, because Garris turned into a drive way and drove into a creek which forced her to stop. She then fled the scene on foot and remained on the lam for over a month until she was arrested Monday.

During an inventory of Garris’s vehicle, deputies found multiple pills which tested positive for fentynal, weighing 3.7 grams, along with used syringes and a spoon with residue.

From that incident, Garris is facing felony charges of trafficking a controlled substance, aggravated assault, fleeing and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Garris also had a warrant from a traffic stop by Mountain Home Police in October. According to that probable cause affidavit, when the officer pulled Garris over, he recognized her from previous encounters and noted she was uncharacteristically nervous.

During the stop, Garris had eight pills of suspected fentanyl on her person and was charged with possession of a controlled substance, fentanyl.

Garris is being held in the Baxter County Detention Center on bonds totaling $30,000.

She has six previous felony arrests in Arkansas and one in Missouri dating back to 2008. Her charges include forgery, drug fraud, theft of property, theft by receiving, obstructing governmental operations, possession of a controlled substance and furnishing prohibited articles.

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