Broken Arrow Police Arrest Arkansas Couple For Drugs

An Arkansas couple was arrested in Broken Arrow after police said they found the husband passed out behind the wheel of an SUV.

Police booked Paul and Meredith Helmert on drug-related complaints.

The arresting officer said he was called to the Raising Canes at 1100 North 9th Street around 6 p.m. Sunday and tried several times to wake up Paul Helmert who was asleep in a vehicle in the parking lot. When Helmert eventually woke up, he appeared to be under the influence of drugs, trying to hand the officer credit cards even after he'd found his driver's license, the arrest report states.

Police said Helmert had trouble keeping his balance and gave them conflicting stories. They called in a drug dog that alerted several times on the SUV.

Paul Helmert gave officers his wife's phone number, and they learned she was inside the business, an arrest report states. She said she would come out, but when she didn't show up, they eventually went inside. She was in the restroom and police said they asked an employee to go inside and look for anything that might have been discarded.

The employee said she found a glass smoking pipe in the trashcan liner and a makeup bag where police said they found two more pipes.

Officers also said they found a white powdery substance on a pair of tinted safety glasses in the SUV which tested positive for meth. When they checked Paul Helmert into jail, they said they found a glass pipe in his pants with white residue and baggies of the drug in his sock. In all, he had about 4 grams of methamphetamine on his person, according to police.

Paul Dewayne Helmert, 44, and 40-year-old Meredith Lynn Helmert were booked on complaints of drug and paraphernalia possession. They have both since bonded out of jail.