On 02/03/2024, A Butler Officer was
patrolling the area of the storage units located near Sandy’s Herb shop when he
observed a subject that appeared to be unconscious inside his vehicle. The
Butler Officer attempted to check on the well being of the subject inside the
vehicle who was later identified as Travis Herman. The Butler Officer was able
to wake Mr. Herman up and immediately observed a glass pipe commonly associated
with smoking methamphetamine in Mr. Herman’s lap. The Butler Officer then asked
Mr. Herman to step out of the vehicle. When Mr. Herman opened the driver door
to the vehicle, The Officer immediately observed a bag of suspected
methamphetamine in the driver’s door of the vehicle. The substance field tested
positive for methamphetamine and weighed approximately 40 grams. Travis Herman was then arrested and
transported to the Bates County Jail.
A few days later, on the evening of
02/06/2024, the same Butler Officer was inside Casey’s General Store and
observed Travis Herman in the store. The Officer stated “I hope you are not
driving.” To Herman. The Officer stated this because he had prior knowledge due
to his recent encounter with Mr. Herman on 02/03/2024 that Mr. Herman’s Driver
License was suspended. The Officer then left Caseys but remained in the area to
ensure that Mr. Herman did not drive on a suspended license. Shortly after, the
Butler Police Department received a call of a disturbance in the Walmart
parking lot. The response time of the Officers to the disturbance was less than
one minute and upon Officers’ arrival to Walmart, there was no people or
vehicles matching the description given to dispatch by the caller. Officers
believed this to be suspicious and listened to the recording of the phone call.
Upon listening to the recording of the call placed to dispatch, Officers
recognized the voice of the caller to be that of Travis Herman. Officers
believe Mr. Herman placed this call in order to divert them away from the area
that he was in. Officers then responded to Mr. Herman’s residence and placed
him under arrest and transported him to the Bates County Jail for making a
false report