BEDFORD – A Bedford woman faces multiple drug-related charges after a traffic stop initiated for a faulty taillight in Lawrence County late Monday night.
According to a Probable Cause Affidavit filed by Lawrence County Police Officer Michael Martin, Lindsey Eads, 25, was arrested following the discovery of marijuana, methamphetamine, drug paraphernalia, and legend drugs in her vehicle.
On Monday, April 14, at approximately 11:50 p.m., Officer Martin, accompanied by Sgt. Whitney Daugherty-Anderson was stopped at a red light facing southbound at the 16th and L Streets intersection. Officer Martin observed a white Chevrolet Trax traveling east on 16th Street and turning south onto L Street with a defective driver’s side taillight. The vehicle then turned east onto 18th Street, at which point Officer Martin initiated a traffic stop at the 18th and G Street intersection.
Upon approaching the passenger side of the vehicle and informing the driver, identified as Eads, of the reason for the stop, Officer Martin reported detecting a strong odor of marijuana emanating from the vehicle. When questioned, Eads stated she was returning home from a friend’s house but initially struggled to explain her address before stating she lived up the road on 18th Street.
Eads was then asked to exit the vehicle.
According to the affidavit, Sgt. Anderson asked Eads if she had anything illegal on her person, and Eads allegedly admitted to having a THC vaping device in her pants pocket, which Sgt. Anderson then retrieved. Due to the strong odor of marijuana, Eads was informed that Officer Martin and Sgt. would conduct a probable cause search of her vehicle—Anderson, with Deputy Kyle Long arriving on scene to assist.
When asked about the location of the marijuana, Eads reportedly stated it would be found inside a small backpack in the backseat. During the search, Officer Martin allegedly located a small amount of marijuana in an empty cigarette pack on the front passenger floorboard. In the backseat backpack, officers reported finding a metal tray with marijuana residue, a glass jar containing marijuana, a grinder with marijuana residue, and a cigarette package containing two rolled marijuana cigarettes.
Also discovered in the backpack was an unlabeled pill bottle containing numerous yellow capsules (labeled SG 180) and one white rectangular pill (labeled A92).
Deputy Long’s trunk search revealed another backpack containing a blue zip-up container. Inside this container, officers allegedly found a glass pipe with a burnt crystal meth, a small round silicone container with crystal meth, another small round silicone container with a black tar-like substance, a burnt metal smoking device, a rubber smoking device, a rolled-up dollar bill, a credit card belonging to Eads, and a metal scraping device.
Eads was then read her Miranda rights, handcuffed, and transported to the Lawrence County Jail.
All criminal defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
