Traffic stop not so routine

January 3, 2006

MARY AMES\Frontiersman reporter

PALMER - Officer Jason Crockett called the arrest he made in the early morning hours of Dec. 21 a &#8220worst-case of bad luck story.”

At about 2:30 a.m., the Palmer police officer was driving his patrol car on the Glenn Highway, coming back into Palmer from the north, he said.

&#8220I was driving down the hill and the tail lights on the car in front of me disappeared,” Crockett said. &#8220I thought maybe it went over a little rise, but as I approached, the lights flickered again.”

The sketchy taillights were enough to give Crockett cause to pull the car over, he said. But the driver gave him an even better reason when he slammed on his brakes and suddenly pulled off on Marsh Road, using no turn signals, Crockett said.

The driver, Shawn Joseph Newkirk, 38, of Wasilla, admitted he had no valid driver's license, according to Crockett.

Crockett determined Newkirk was drunk and that he had at least two previous driving under the influence convictions since 1996, which made this a felony DUI arrest, he said. Crockett found about three plastic bags of marijuana in the car and brought in Custa, a sniffer K-9 with the Alaska State Troopers. Custa sniffed the car and alerted Crockett that there was something interesting in the trunk, which gave probable cause for a search warrant to look.

A laundry basket of fresh pot was in the trunk of the car, Crockett said.

&#8220It's drying now,” Crockett said. &#8220Once it's dried, it will be weighed for evidence.”

Crockett took Newkirk to Mat-Su Pre-Trial Facility before he opened the trunk, so he didn't know if Newkirk knew they had found the basket of pot.

According to court records, police arrested Newkirk in the Valley on Nov. 8 for driving with a suspended license, and cited him for speeding and not having proof of insurance on Oct. 26. He was given a suspended sentence July 1 in Anchorage for driving with a revoked license on March 29.

Court records show Newkirk pleaded no contest to a charge of driving under the influence in Valdez in May 1989.

Only three of the 51 court cases involving Newkirk since 1991 were filed in Palmer Court, the rest were in Anchorage.

Contact Mary Ames at

352-2284 or mary.ames@

frontiersman.com.