• Lori L. Ryther, 57, of Newton, was charged with her first offense of operating while under the influence and for having an open container of alcohol on March 20. At about 9:24 p.m., the Newton Police Department were notified of a reckless driver. Dispatch advised officers the vehicle was parking in the Newton 66 gas station parking lot and that the truck — a red, 2011 Chevrolet Colorado — had drove over the curb and almost went into the ditch. Police arrived and met with Ryther sitting inside her vehicle. Rhyther allegedly showed signs of impairment: bloodshot, watery eyes and an odor of an alcoholic beverage. Ryther then consented to Standardized Field Sobriety Tests. According to police reports, she showed four out of six clues on on Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus and several clues on the walk-and-turn and the one-leg stand. Ryther refused a preliminary breath test and a breath sample on the DataMaster. Police say multiple alcohol containers were found inside Ryther’s vehicle. Officers also found two opened bottles of Captain Morgan on her person and other empty and non-opened bottles of the same liquor in plain view on Ryther’s passenger seat. Officers say the alcoholic beverages were readily accessible to the defendant. Ryther is summoned to appear in court on April 20.
• Andrew W. Baldwin, 24, of Newton, was charged with his first offense of operating while under the influence on March 20. At about 10:58 p.m., patrol officers ran a vehicle’s Iowa license plate through the National Crime Information Center and found the registration had expired in October 2020. Police pulled over a gray, 2016 Ford Fusion near the 900 block of South Seventh Avenue West in Newton and made contact with Baldwin. Officers smelled an odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from the car. Baldwin consented to Standardized Field Sobriety Tests, failing all three. Police reports say the Baldwin admitted to driving and having a couple Bud Lights before submitting to a preliminary breath test, which indicated he had a breath alcohol content of 0.174% — more than double Iowa’s legal limit of 0.08%. Baldwin is summoned to appear in court on April 20.
• Ibrahim Diawara, 27, of Newton, was charged with his first offense of operating while under the influence on March 20. At about 12:33 a.m., an officer pulled over the driver of a black Chevrolet Cruze for failing to affix the registration sticker to the license plate. The officer requested police assistance at the scene, saying the vehicle smelled of marijuana and that the driver, Diawara, said he had just smoked marijuana. The second officer confirmed Diawara did smell of marijuana. Police also noticed the driver’s eyes were bloodshot and watery, his speech was mumbled and he was exhibiting body tremors. According to police reports, Diawara told officers he had smoked two “blunts” and that on a scale of 0-10 (0 being sober and 10 being very high) he felt like a 7. Probable cause search of the vehicle revealed the butt of the smoked “blunt.” Upon completing field sobriety testing and a drug influence evaluation, officers determined Diawara to be impaired by cannabis. Diawara provided a urine sample for testing at a later time.
• Kimberrly R. Carr, 37, of Newton, was charged with possession of a controlled substance and paraphernalia on March 18. At about 6:20 p.m., Newton Police Department was dispatched to the 4400 block of South 22nd Avenue East to a report of a marijuana odor coming from a hotel room at AmericInn. A witness told officers they walked by room #214 when the door was open and could tell the smell was omitting from that room. Officers asked Carr if there was any marijuana in the room. According to police reports, Carr told officers she did have paraphernalia with marijuana in it. Officers also found a pipe and edibles located in the room, which Carr said did not belong to her. Officers were allowedto search the rest of the room and found scales, small plastic baggies with white residue and pipes in a bag stashed in the closet, which Carr said were hers. Carr is summoned to appear in court on April 13.