Wednesday, October 14, 2009 10:01 AM CDT
A Van Buren man who became the first $100,000 winner in the Arkansas lottery is scheduled to be arraigned today on a felony drug charge. This comes after spending the night in jail on two sex-related misdemeanor charges.
Joseph Kirk Pierce, 34, was arrested Aug. 22 by Fort Smith police at the walking trail along Clayton Expressway after Pierce agreed to allow a man to perform oral sex on him. The man was an undercover police officer.
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When Pierce exposed himself, the police detective identified himself and placed Pierce under arrest for loitering and indecent exposure, according to court documents. Following his arrest, police found him in possession of suspected methadone and arrested him on the additional drug charge.
Pierce, 34, purchased a $5 scratch-off ticket Sunday evening while working at the Pointer Express 2 convenience store at 3915 Kibler Road in Van Buren.
He said he first purchased a $5 ticket while he was on break and won $5. He then used the $5 winner to purchase a second $5 ticket that produced the $100,000 jackpot. Pierce plans to use the money on a house, a car and on his wife and children — a 13-year-old and a daughter born Sept. 7.
Pierce, who has worked at the Pointer Express for less than two months, planned to drive to Little Rock Tuesday to cash the ticket at the lottery’s headquarters. Pierce planned to be at the center “first thing” Tuesday because he has to be back in Van Buren by 2 p.m. to start his shift at Pointer Express.
When a reporter contacted the convenience store Tuesday evening, an employee there said Pierce had been given the night off to spend with his family. The clerk confirmed Pierce’s date of birth, which matches the date of birth on all police and court documents stemming from the Aug. 22 arrest.
Pierce turned himself in to authorities at the Sebastian County Adult Detention Center, according to a jail employee, late Tuesday to begin serving six days of a 10-day sentence he received for the two misdemeanor charges. He has four days credit for days he previously served. It wasn’t immediately clear Tuesday, but Pierce may have the work-release option, which would allow him to leave the jail today to work and then return to the jail late tonight when he finishes his work shift.
He is banned from Fort Smith parks which is a condition of his plea agreement. Authorities confirmed Pierce has previous arrests for loitering and public sexual indecency in Fort Smith.
Since the lottery went into effect Sept. 28, more than $19 million in tickets has been sold.