Complaints of a loud party at an Alva apartment led officers to evidence that caused them to arrest two residents. According to court documents, on Jan. 20 about 9:30 p.m. Woods County Deputy Sheriff Adam Honeyman and Alva Police Officer Brian File went to the Aspen Apartments on Hart Street. They were approached by the property manager who said another tenant complained of a strong odor of marijuana coming from the apartment in question.
When the officers went to the apartment, they could see visible smoke coming from around the door jamb and smelled an overwhelmingly strong odor of marijuana. Although they knocked and announced their presence, no one would answer the door. A small child could be heard crying from inside.
The property manager provided a key to the apartment to prevent damage from a forced entry. Deputy Honeyman loudly announced their presence as he unlocked the door. An occupant pushed the door back shut, barricading the door and preventing entry.
The officers were able to enter through a sliding glass door on the balcony when a woman in the apartment opened the door. Smoke billowed out through the door.
All the occupants including the small child were secured while officers applied for a search warrant. Once they obtained a warrant, a search of the apartment revealed the following:
• $1,579 cash found in close proximity to a large quantity of marijuana
• Dell Latitude laptop
• White grocery bag containing a large amount of marijuana, confirmed with a field test kit
• Two 16 oz. bottles of liquid “instant cleansing drink”
• One 3 oz. bottle of synthetic urine
• One large vacuum seal bag that contained marijuana
• One black digital scale with marijuana residue stuck to the scale
During the search, Honeyman located the digital scales on a shelf in the master bedroom of the apartment. Britney Houston, who was unrestrained as she was trying to put her two-year-old child to sleep, saw Honeyman looking at the scales. Houston was under the supervision of Officer File. She convinced File she needed something from the closet. While in the closet, Houston grabbed the scales and tossed them onto the top shelf to land behind some items in an attempt to conceal.
In a post-Miranda interview, Donell Gray told Honeyman he smokes marijuana recreationally and had just finished smoking the last amount he had.
Gray and Houston have a two-year-old child who was present. When Gray and Houston were placed under arrest, Honeyman checked the child who had a distinct odor of marijuana about her clothing and person including her hair.
The apartment is located 535 feet from the Northwestern Oklahoma State University campus and 608 feet from Lincoln Elementary School.
Both Britney Monet Houston, 28, of Alva and Donell Lishaun Gray, 24, of Alva have been charged with unlawful possession of controlled drug (marijuana) with intent to distribute while in the presence of a minor child and within 1,000 feet of a school, a felony punishable by a fine of up to $40,000 or imprisonment for four years to life or both such fine and imprisonment.
Both Houston and Gray have also been charged with felony child neglect, which is punishable by imprisonment in the custody of the Department of Corrections not exceeding life imprisonment, or by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, or by a fine of not less than $500 nor more than $5,000, or both such fine and imprisonment.
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