A 19-year-old woman and admitted drug user who allegedly stole an acquaintance’s vehicle because he was “being an (expletive)” remains in custody after leading police on a chase and damaging property at Argosy Casino in Riverside, Mo.
According to a probable cause statement, the Riverside Police Department arrested Amanda Beck, who appears to be homeless, late last month on a dead end road near a park on NW Argosy Parkway. They recovered two license plates, a hypodermic needle and a white crystal substance that field tested positive for methamphetamine inside the stolen 1999 Toyota Camry she was driving.
Beck faces one felony count each for possession of a controlled substance and tampering with a motor vehicle. She faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted on both charges and remains in the Platte County Detention Center on a $25,000 cash-only bond.
The chase started prior to 10 p.m. on Feb. 23 after Beck allegedly honked the horn of the Camry while alongside a Kansas Highway Patrol trooper on 7th Street (U.S. 69 Highway) in Kansas City, Kan. Kansas authorities stopped the chase at the state line, and a Riverside officer took over the pursuit when it entered Missouri.
The officer observed the car turning on to NW Argosy Parkway and then onto a service road that runs between the casino and a parking garage.
Beck’s vehicle then ran over a yellow steel pillar separating the service area from the garage. She turned into the garage, going past an entrance with people out front, and continued dragging the pillar inside. After exiting the garage, the vehicle went back onto NW Argosy Parkway before coming to a stop at the dead end a short while later.
Placed under arrest at that time, Beck was the only person in the vehicle.
Beck told officers she had given up on herself and said the vehicle was her “home girl’s” then claimed it was hers. She later said she had the car for three or four days after taking it from a man because he was “being an expletive” at a trap house, a named used for a location where people congregate to use methamphetamine.
The plates on the Camry were found to belong to a stolen Ford F-150 truck, and Beck said she took plates off of vehicles at an unknown location.
According to a review of in-car video, Beck said she had dope in her wallet, called herself an idiot and admitted to not having a license while in the police vehicle by herself. She later admitted in an interview that the drugs found were hers.