BEDFORD – A Orleans woman was arrested after a Lawrence County Sheriff’s Department deputy noticed she was driving without her seatbelt on.
The officer was parked in a parking lot at State Road 37 and US 50 West when he noticed the driver of a blue Ford Explorer traveling north on State Road 37. The female driver was reaching around near the floor of the vehicle and was not wearing her seatbelt.
The officer followed the SUV as it went under the overpass onto Mitchell Road. The vehicle then turned onto SandPit Road. The officer then noticed the license plate light was not functioning.
At 1:52 a.m. the officer stopped the vehicle just west of the intersection of SandPit Road and South I Street. The officer spoke to the driver 36-year-old Whitney Kelley.
When asked if there was anything illegal in the vehicle like drugs or weapons, Kelley admitted there was a pellet gun in the rear cargo area of the SUV.
The officer said Kelley was stuttering her words and looking around the vehicle frantically. The officer asked to search the vehicle and Kelley refused that request. Oolitic canine Deny Joe arrived at the scene and alerted officers to possible drugs in the vehicle.
Inside the SUV police found multiple Oxycodone and Acetaminophen Hydrocodone pills, a baggie of marijuana, and a baggie containing crystal meth along with a cut straw, a grinder, and smoking devices. A loaded Taurus handgun was found under the front passenger seat. In Kelley’s pocket, they found a cut straw with a white residue on it and half of an Oxycodone pill.
Kelley was detained on charges of possession of meth with enhancement, possession of cocaine or narcotic drugs with enhancement, possession of marijuana, and possession of drug paraphernalia. She was also given a written warning for the nonfunctioning registration plate light.
She told police she had nothing else on her person, however, Kelley dropped a small bag containing 0.6 grams of crystal meth out of her tank top and kicked it under the sink while she was being processed.
