Woman charged with possession of methamphetamine from 2018 incident

Kimberly Hemphill is scheduled to be arraigned July 19 on a felony charge of possession of a controlled substance in connection with a Feb. 2, 2018, incident. 

According to the probable cause statement filed in the case, prepared by former Ozark County Sheriff’s Deputy Justin Urich, the officer received a call from the OCSD dispatch office notifying him that they’d received a report of a vehicle partially blocking the roadway on Highway 160, just west of Cloud 9 Ranch in Caulfield. 

When Urich arrived on scene, he found Hemphill sitting in the passenger’s side of the vehicle attempting to open the passenger’s side door. She was very agitated, speaking fast, mumbling and repeating her words, the officer noted in the report. 

Urich also noticed that Hemphill was having difficulties listening and following directions. She told the officer that she had her insurance information in the car and gave him consent to look inside, the report says. 

While he was unable to find any insurance information in the car, Urich did find a small orange cap, similar to what is used to cover a needle of a syringe. A search of Hemphill’s purse turned up a small makeup bag with a spoon sealed in a plastic bag. The bag had a white crystal substance in it. The spoon and bag field-tested positive for methamphetamine. 

After she was arrested and transported to jail, Hemphill was found attempting to flush a bottle of vodka down the jail toilet during the booking process, the report says. 

The following day when the jailer (Deputy Wayne Romans) was vacuuming at the jail, he found two syringes hidden under the floor mat in the jail. A review of the security camera footage in that room showed Hemphill placing the items there when the officer had his back turned, the report says. The syringes also tested positive for methamphetamine with a Nartec device. The items were placed into evidence and sent to the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s crime lab for further testing.