Speeding motorcycle leads to discovery of meth pipe, active warrants and no insurance or registration

Missouri State Highway Patrol Trooper Jason Philpott’s Nov. 9, 2020, traffic stop of a Yamaha motorcycle on Highway 5 near County Road 118 in the Noble area has led to two warrants being issued and charges filed for two out-of-area drivers. 

 

Charges

A $1,500 cash-only bond has been issued for Halie Jo Spears, of Clever, and a $350 cash-only bond has been issued for Mark Allen Coffer Jr., of Billings. 

Spears is charged with possession of methamphetamine, a class D felony. A warrant with a $1,500 cash-only bond was issued Friday. 

Coffer is charged with the misdemeanor charges of being the owner/operator of a motor vehicle without maintaining financial responsibility (motor vehicle required to be registered), operating a motorcycle when a driver’s license is not valid for such operation and failure to register motor vehicle. 

Coffer did not appear for his initial court appearance, which was scheduled for Nov. 23. A warrant was issued at that point. According to online records, he has not yet been arrested on that warrant. 

 

13 mph over the speed limit

According to the probable cause statement filed by Philpott, the officer was patrolling Highway 5 in the Noble area when he saw a silver-and-black Yamaha motorcycle traveling northbound. The officer’s radar confirmed that the bike was going 73 miles per hour, and that area of roadway has a speed limit of 60 miles per hour. 

 

No registration, no insurance

Philpott activated his emergency lights and sirens, and Coffer, who was driving the bike, pulled over to the side of the roadway. Spears was riding as a passenger on the bike with Coffer, the statement says. 

Coffer told the officer that he’d purchased the bike, but the former owner did not have a title in his name, so he was waiting for the title. He also reportedly said the registration was on the Yamaha when he’d bought it. The report says Coffer had no proof of when he’d purchased the bike, and when asked if he had insurance on it, he confirmed that he did not. 

Philpott says a routine check of Coffer’s license showed that he did not have a motorcycle endorsement or a motorcycle permit. The Yamaha’s registration was not on file, the report says, and the VIN number revealed that the motorcycle was not stolen, but the number didn’t match the VIN on the Missouri title Coffer had given the officer. 

 

Warrants for each suspect

A routine check of Spears’ record showed that she was on probation for a forgery case at the time. She had a probation and parole warrant issued in the case that had been issued in Oct. 29, 2020. She also had three misdemeanor traffic warrants from the Republic Police Department, but they weren’t extraditable. 

 Coffer’s record showed that he had an active misdemeanor warrant issued from the Clever Police Department. The officer contacted the CPD but was told they wouldn’t extradite the suspect for the case. 

 

 

Meth paraphernalia

Philpott told both suspects he was placing them under arrest and asked if they had anything illegal on their persons. Both suspects told the officer they didn’t have anything on them. The officer searched the suspects and found a methamphetamine pipe wrapped in a bandana inside a red backpack that Spears was wearing. An unused new small glass smoking device was also inside the bag, the report says.

Ozark County Times

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