Former Youth Wrestling Coach, Wife Arrested For Meth, Weapons Possession

A Broken Arrow couple were arrested on meth charges Tuesday night.

The man was picked up with his two young boys in tow and the woman was arrested a few hours later.

Eric Hopkins, 31, coached a youth-league wrestling team in Broken Arrow.

The director of that group said he's shocked and calls the arrest a selfish act, adding Hopkins is no longer and will never again be part of his club.

Broken Arrow Take Down Club is a youth wrestling group that teaches the sport to children age 6 and up.

Eric Hopkins volunteered his time as a coach for about three years.

On Tuesday night, Broken Arrow police said they were out to serve a search warrant at Hopkins' home, when instead, they caught up with him and his two young sons at a convenience store a few blocks away.

"They discovered he had approximately five grams of a crystallized substance, believed to be methamphetamine on his person," said Corporal Leon Calhoun.

Calhoun said Hopkins was carrying the drugs in four plastic baggies in his pockets.

Hopkins was arrested, while police went on to search his home.

Inside, Calhoun said officers discovered three guns, more baggies, scales, and a surveillance system monitoring his home.

Possession of firearms and use of a surveillance camera are both felonies when used for criminal activity.

"That would have given him a warning that, ‘Hey, officers are the ones knocking on the front door,' whatever, give him time to either escape or destroy or hide the evidence," Calhoun said.

A few hours later, police arrested Hopkins' wife, Tiffany, for possession of meth, oxycodone and marijuana.

The couple lived at home with three young children.

"Especially methamphetamine, it can be clear, it's been mistaken for water. [It's] obviously very dangerous to have that in your house … but also the element of the individuals you deal with could put the children at risk, too," Calhoun said.

Take Down Club Director John Cockrell said background checks are done before any coach can join the group, but records show this is Hopkins' first offense of this nature.

Cockrell said, "The coaches are expected to be role models and provide a safe learning environment for our youth."

Police tell us they don't believe Hopkins was making the drugs, and they are working to find out where he was getting them.

They say the children were released to a family friend.