Court filing: Joplin man captured after ditching backpack full of guns, meth in trash bin at Fuzzy's Tacos

In a motion for a detention hearing filed today in U. S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri, the government asked that a Joplin man be held without bond while awaiting trial on meth and weapons charges.

Freddie Jo McAnally, 42, will be arraigned Thursday, February 18 in Springfield.

McAnally's alleged criminal activities were detailed in the motion: 

Joplin Police Department (JPD) Officer H. Hinkle was dispatched to 3502 S. Range Line Road, Maple Wood Place, Joplin, Newton County, Missouri on December 23, 2019, in response to a male subject suspected of manufacturing methamphetamine in a hotel room at said location. 

Officer Hinkle had information that the suspect was a white male who was carrying a black backpack and wearing a camouflage hoodie, blue jeans, and a black hat. Officer Hinkle observed an individual matching the suspect’s description, walking on the east side of Eagle Stop at 3504 S. Range Line Road, carrying a black backpack. 

Officer Hinkle activated his patrol vehicle’s emergency lights and sirens to stop the suspect. The suspect looked at Officer Hinkle and then ran east across Range Line Road, then north through the parking lot of Fuzzy’s Tacos (3607 S. Range Line Road). 

The suspect was walking away from a garbage bin behind Fuzzy’s Taco when Officer Hinkle caught up to him. 

Upon reaching the suspect, Officer Hinkle noticed that he no longer possessed the black backpack that he was carrying moments ago. Officer Hinkle detained the male subject and identified him as Freddie Joe McAnally. 

Officer Hinkle then contacted JPD Officer Joshusa Dykstra advising him that McAnally had “ditched” the backpack and that the backpack may be in the garbage bin behind Fuzzy’s Tacos. 

Officer Dykstra went to the garbage bin behind Fuzzy’s Tacos and located a black backpack in the front left corner of the blue garbage bin. Officer Dykstra searched the abandoned backpack and located a black and grey Bersa, .380 caliber pistol, bearing serial number E29521, in a camouflage soft holster.

A computer check of the serial number showed the firearm was stolen. 

Inside the backpack, Officer Dykstra also located 138.7 grams of suspected methamphetamine, 13.8 grams of suspected mushrooms, and 19 blue and yellow pills identified by drug identification as clozapine pills. 

The drugs were eventually tested by the Missouri State Highway Patrol Crime Lab, which confirmed the existence of 136 grams of methamphetamine— Schedule II, 6 grams of mushrooms—Schedule I (psilocyn), and 0.17 grams of clonazepam— Schedule IV. 

McAnally refused to speak with Officer Hinkle after he was read his Miranda rights. McAnally then blurted out that he didn’t know whose backpack that was in the bin. Officer Hinkle informed McAnally that he saw him carrying a backpack while he was running. 

McAnally was taken into custody for fleeing, felon in possession of a firearm, felony stealing, and possession of a controlled substance. 

McAnally has prior felony convictions for property damage first, resisting arrest, and three separate convictions for possession of controlled substances. 

On June 10, 2020, ATF Special Agent Brian Fox, a firearms interstate nexus expert, determined that the Bersa, model Thunder 380, .380 caliber pistol, bearing serial number E29521, was not manufactured in the State of Missouri, and therefore, it would have traveled in interstate commerce before being found in McAnally’s possession on December 23, 2019.  

McAnally’s status as a fugitive between September 2020 and January 2021 supports a finding that he poses a serious risk to flee. On August 25, 2020, McAnally was indicted for the offenses described above. 

On September 1, 2020, United States Magistrate Judge David Rush, Western District of Missouri, issued an arrest warrant for McAnally. On December 15, 2020, after exhausting all efforts to locate McAnally, the ATF signed over apprehension responsibility to the United States Marshals Service (USMS). 

McAnally continued engagement in criminal activity while a fugitive shows that he poses a risk to the safety of the community. On January 28, 2021, McAnally was apprehended in Jasper County, Missouri, during the execution of a state search warrant by the Ozarks Drug Enforcement Team (ODET). 

While searching McAnally’s camper, ODET detectives located multiple baggies containing a crystal substance, which field tested positive for methamphetamine, multiple empty plastic baggies, a scale, and components of a methamphetamine lab. 

Inside McAnally’s wallet, ODET detectives located $1,245 in cash. ODET detectives arrested McAnally for the offenses of manufacture, delivery, and possession of a controlled substance and resisting arrest.