BEDFORD – A Bedford woman was arrested on Monday, March 18 after Bedford Police Sgt. Faheem Bade stopped her vehicle at 12:20 a.m.
Sgt. Bade was on patrol and pulled behind a black Nissan SUV with a very dim license plate light. The vehicle continued traveling west on 5th Street and crossed the double yellow line, prompting him to initiate a traffic stop at 5th and W Streets.
He spoke to the driver, 38-year-old Jessica Owens, who said she couldn’t find her driver’s license. She then provided Sgt. Bade with a vehicle title and handwritten bill of sale from the previous owner and said she was planning on getting the vehicle registered to her after she got paid on Friday.
Sgt. Bade said Owen had lethargic speech and her eyes were glassy.
She denied consent to search her vehicle.
Officer Brent Thompkins arrived to assist and began writing Thompson a caution. Owen then began to walk away from the officers and was asked twice to stop, but she refused and got into the driver seat of her SUV. Officer Thompkins approached Owens and removed her from the vehicle, and she was detained.
Sgt. Bade used his canine partner Zazu to search the vehicle. The dog alerted police to drugs in the vehicle. Inside Owens’ wallet, police found a small bag of crystal meth and a blue cut straw with meth residue. Owen then admitted she had used the drug earlier in the day.
She was transported to the Bedford Police Department, where she performed and failed several field sobriety tests. She was then transported to IU Health Bedford Hospital for a blood draw.
Owens was then transported to jail on charges of operating a vehicle while intoxicated, operating a vehicle while under the influence of a controlled substance, OWI endangerment, possession of meth, possession of drug paraphernalia, and resisting arrest.
