Webb City woman with lengthy criminal history arrested on felony charges after leading Highway Patrol on chase

A woman who listed Webb City as her address, but has a long list of priors in Barry, Stone and Lawrence counties when she was living in Aurora, is being held in the Cass County Jail after being arrested by the Highway Patrol following a chase 12:24 a.m. today.

Ashley Brooke Griffin was charged with felony resisting arrest by flight, felony possession of a controlled substance (methamphetamine), felony possession of a controlled substance (prescription pills), two Barry County felony warrants, misdemeanor possession of marijuana and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia.

Griffin, 28, had good reason to run, according to the report. Judge Jack Goodman issued a warrant for her arrest after a probation violation hearing July 5 in Barry County Circuit Court.

Griffin pleaded guilty in July 2016 to felony charges of distribution of a controlled substance and possession of a controlled substance and Goodman sentenced her to 12 years in prison, but suspended the sentence.

Since that time, Griffin has not been able to stay out of trouble, according to online court records. Notices of probation violations were filed October 14, 2016, and January 3, 2017.

A probation violation hearing was scheduled February 22, but Griffin failed to show and a warrant was issued for her arrest. The hearing was finally rescheduled for June 17, but in the meantime after contact was made with Griffin, Goodman released her on her own recognizance.

Court records indicate the release likely happened after Griffin agreed to go to substance abuse facility. She violated the conditions of her probation by leaving the facility. The Highway Patrol stopped her May 30 in Barry County, charging her with operating a motor vehicle without a license, failure to maintain financial responsibility, failure to drive on the right half of the roadway, failure to display plates and for not wearing a seat belt.

 Griffin then failed to show for the June 17 probation violation hearing.

Griffin's problems with the law began long ago, court records indicate. She entered an Alford plea in Lawrence County Circuit Court to three felony charges of endangering the welfare of a child in 2009, the same year she pleaded guilty to felony receiving stolen property charges in Barry and Stone counties in 2009.

During the time she was sentenced to the women's prison in Chillicothe, she received a five-year sentence after pleading guilty to committing violence of an employee of the Department of Corrections.