Sarcoxie woman arrested with 29 grams of meth and four-year-old in car had five children taken from her in 2004

When the Joplin Police Department arrested Brandie McLean Sunday night at 7th and Byers t with 29 grams of meth in her pants and a four-year-old child in the car it was not the 40-year-old Sarcoxie woman's first run-in with the law and it was not the first time she has run into problems while having children under care.

McLean, formerly a Joplin and Webb City resident, had her five children removed from her care on September 20, 2004, after she fell asleep due to use of a prescription drug and somehow her two-year-old son found his way onto the roof.

One of the five children, Braxton Wooden, 8, was later shot to death by another child while living with a foster family in Alba.

McLean's latest arrest was described in an incident report posted today on the Joplin Police Department Facebook page:

Yesterday evening at 8:12 p.m. one of our officers stopped a vehicle at 7th and Byers for lane use.

The 40-year-old female driver from Sarcoxie lied to the officer about where he saw her leaving, and then stuffed a box containing a glass pipe down into the passenger seat.

The female had a second glass pipe and about 29 grams of meth (approximate $2,900 value) down the front of her pants. She was arrested for drug charges.

The 4-year-old child who was in the car was turned over to a different family member, who was called to the scene, and division of children's services was notified to begin an investigation.

The four-year-old's presence was not mentioned in the probable cause statement:

On 12-17-2017 at 7th Street and Byers Ave. in the city of Joplin, Jasper County Missouri, Brandie McLean committed the offenses of possession of a controlled substance, unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of a forging instrumentality and delivery or concealment of premises of narcotics.

While on routine patrol, I observed a Black Audi A4 pull out of the Budget Inn on West 7th Street. While following behind the vehicle, I observed the vehicle weave from the inside to the outside lane multiple times. I stopped the vehicle for this reason, the final stop being 7th Street and Byers Ave. I made contact with the driver, Brandie McLean.

After my initial contact with Brandie, when I went to run her information through dispatch, I had another officer watch her. Officer Taber advised me that as soon as I walked away from the vehicle, Brandie pulled an item from her pocket and attempted to hide it on the passenger side of the vehicle.

The item Brandie attempted to conceal was a box for a glass pipe, commonly used for smoking methamphetamine.

With this information and Brandie's demeanor, I called a K-9 officer to the scene. K-9 Officer Brown advised me that his K-9 alerted to the odor of narcotics on the vehicle.

A hand search was then completed of the vehicle. I also called a female officer to the scene to perform a more thorough search of Brandie's person. Officer Jones advised me after the search that Brandie was concealing items in the crotch area of her pants.

During the hand search of the vehicle, a pink lunch box was located in the trunk of the vehicle. Inside the pink lunch box were multiple pieces of paper cut to the length and width of U. S. currencty. Also printed on the pieces of paper were stencils of U. S. currency that I believed were to be used in the production of counterfeit money. Brandie was arrested for possession of a forging instruentality on scene and was transported to the Joplin City Jail.

While at the jail, a search of Brandie's peron was completed by jail staff. In the crotch area of Brandie's pants, a glass pipe was located, commonly used for smoking methamphetamine. Also located in the crotch area of Brandie's pants was a zip lock bag filled with a white substance that filed tested positive for methamphetamine. The bag weighed 29.1 grams.

McLean's history of run-ins with the law spans most of the 2000s, with a guilty plea for possession of drug paraphernalia in 2002, for which see received one year of unsupervised probation.

Though no arrest was involved, her five children were removed from her home after the 2004 incident when authorities checking on the report of the two-year-old child on the roof found McLean and a 16-year-old girl asleep in the living room. She told police she had been prescribed the anti-psychotic drug Seroquel a week earlier to treat depression and stress and the drug made her sleepy.

Before she was able to get her children back, McLean's son was shot to death while staying with a foster family in Alba. She sued the foster parents, represented by Moberly lawyer Chris Faiella and Joplin attorney Judd McPherson and received a settlement from the foster parents. The amount was not disclosed.

McLean's action against the Children's Division for placing her son with the Alba family.

McLean pleaded guilty to forgery charges in 2006 and was sentenced to seven years in prison, though she only served four months.

She pleaded guilty to resisting arrest and possession of drug paraphernalia in 2010.