MITCHELL – A Mitchell woman is facing drug charges after Oolitic Town Marshal James Harrington stopped a vehicle she was in for a traffic violation on Friday, Feb. 24 on Doc Hamilton Boulevard, just east of State Road 37.
The passenger in the vehicle, 51-year-old Tonya Hattabaugh, is facing charges of possession of meth, possession of a legend drug and possession of a controlled substance, and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Harrington’s canine partner Deny Joe alerted officers to possible narcotics in the vehicle.
Hattabaugh told the officers there might be drugs located in a bag in the passenger seat.
Hattabaugh said the bag and its contents did not belong to the driver, but to her. She then began to empty her pockets of her own free will. While doing so, she retrieved three dollar bills from her right front pants pocket. In between the dollar bills, an officer noticed a small plastic baggie that continued crystal-like substance. That substance later tested and was positive for meth.
When asked what was in the baggie, Hattabaugh quickly said it was nothing and began to stuff the money and baggie back into her pocket.
Hattabaugh was then detained.
During a search of the vehicle, Harrington was able to locate a cloth bag on the left side of the passenger’s seat in between the seat and the middle console. The bag contained a plastic bag with a white, crystal-like substance and numerous white, oval pills. In Hattabaugh’s purse, the officer found a digital scale covered with meth residue.
Police said Hattabaugh then claimed the bag found “belonged to someone else and she was just taking it back to them”.
Hattabaugh was then transported to the Lawrence County Jail. During a more thorough search of Hattabaugh’s purse, the officer located a pill crusher containing Methadone, Percocet and four more white pills later identified as Gabapentin.
Police said they found more than 15 grams of meth in Hattabaugh’s possession.
