Misdemeanor DWI charge filed against Joplin man arrested with fentanyl, loaded gun

The Jasper County Prosecuting Attorney's office filed misdemeanor charges of driving while intoxicated and possession of drug paraphernalia against a Joplin man who was arrested after falling asleep in a running vehicle in a McDonald's drive through.

Christopher Don Parker (DOB 1988) was "slumped over and drooling" in the drive through when approached by Joplin Police Wednesday evening, according to the probable cause statement.

Parker did not respond when I announced myself and pounded on the vehicle’s side window. Once I turned off the vehicle and woke up Parker he was startled and confused. Parker later made a spontaneous utterance that he had a firearm concealed on his hip. 

Parker agreed to perform Standardized Field Sobriety Tests to ensure he was okay to drive. Before the SFSTs I located a black Glock 43X, loaded with one round in the chamber in a holster on Parker’s right hip. 

After administering SFSTs to Parker I arrested him for driving under the influence of drugs. During a search incident to arrest of Parker’s front right pocket I located a small wrapped-up piece of foil that I believed to be drug paraphernalia. 

 Search incident to arrest of Parker’s left pocket I located two more pieces of foil with residue and burn marks. In the front left pocket I also located four metal cylinder tubes. One blue tube was empty with nothing in it (and weighed 22.69 grams), one blue tube contained a white powdery residue that I believed to be fentanyl through my training and experience (and weighed 22.70 grams), a green tube that was approximately two-thirds full of a white powdery substance I believed to be fentanyl (and weighed 27.48 grams), and a pink tube that was completely full of a white powdery substance I believed to be fentanyl (that weighed 31.30 grams). 

Later it was discovered that the wrapped-up piece of foil also contained more of a white powdery substance believed to be fentanyl and weighed 0.62 grams. The substance in the wrapped-up foil tested on the TrueNarc system at heroin/fentanyl, the substance in the pink container tested on the TrueNarc system as Acetyl Fentanyl. 

Overall the suspected fentanyl weighed approximately 13.9 grams. 411 forms were completed to send the fentanyl to the Missouri State Highway Patrol lab for official testing. 

Under Miranda Warning Parker admitted to using fentanyl around 11AM on 09/27/2023 and said he uses fentanyl two or three times daily. Parker agreed to have his blood drawn after he was read implied consent, the blood draw kit was sent to the Missouri State Highway Patrol Lab for testing.

The misdemeanor charges were only half of the charges recommended by the Joplin Police Department, according to the probable cause statement.

In addition to driving while intoxicated, felony charges of drug trafficking in the first degree and unlawful use of a firearm were recommended. At this point, neither charge has been filed according to Jasper County Circuit Court records.