Staff writer
A man was arrested on multiple charges Saturday after a 5-year-old girl was allegedly discovered in the front seat of a truck, sleeping on a jar containing marijuana.
At approximately 1 a.m., Marion officer Mike Stone stopped Daniel L. Jackson, 31, of Bushong, when he noticed Jackson stop in the middle of US-56.
“He wasn’t in a turning lane,” Stone said. “I pulled him over because you can’t just stop in the middle of a highway with semis coming through.”
Stone said Jackson’s truck was riddled with trash and clothes that partially concealed the girl.
“She was sleeping,” Stone said. “She wasn’t in a car seat, or in a seat belt. She was just there in the front seat under some clothes.”
When Stone asked for Jackson’s license and registration, he said Jackson informed him that he had neither, and that he had a warrant out of Topeka.
He asked Jackson to accompany him to the front seat of his patrol car. Canine officer Legion was in the back seat.
“As soon as he got in the car, Legion goes right to the bars,” Stone said. “I could smell the marijuana coming off of him, too.”
Stone said he searched Jackson’s truck and located approximately 0.06 grams of marijuana in a glass jar under the sleeping girl.
“She was lying right on top of it,” Stone said.
Jackson was arrested on charges of endangering a child, driving on a revoked license, possession of marijuana, and stopping in a prohibited area.
The girl was released to a relative after being transported to juvenile intake.