BEDFORD – A routine traffic stop for a minor equipment violation resulted in the arrest of a Mitchell woman Friday night after a police K-9 alerted officers to the presence of narcotics inside her vehicle.
Kathy Martin, 44, was taken into custody on March 20, 2026, following a stop at the intersection of J and 16th Streets. She now faces multiple drug-related charges and a licensing violation.
The incident began at approximately 8:20 p.m. when Lawrence County Sheriff’s Deputy Michael Martin observed a white Ford Fusion turning onto 14th Street without an operable license plate light. Upon stopping the vehicle and identifying the driver, dispatch informed the deputy that Kathy Martin had an active warrant out of Lawrence County for a Petition to Revoke.
After Martin was placed under arrest for the warrant, Deputy Kenton Carter arrived on the scene with his K-9 partner, Boon. During a “free-air sniff” of the exterior of the Ford Fusion, Boon reportedly alerted officers to the driver’s side door, providing probable cause for a full search of the vehicle
According to the probable cause affidavit, a search of the car’s interior yielded several illegal items, including multiple baggies containing crystal meth, a broken glass smoking device wrapped in a towel, a syringe, and a tourniquet device found inside a bag in the backseat, and various pills were also recovered and taken into evidence.
The suspected methamphetamine weighed approximately 0.45 grams on a non-certified scale at the Sheriff’s Department.
In addition to her outstanding warrant, Martin was booked into the Lawrence County Jail on the following preliminary charges of possession of meth, unlawful possession of a syringe, possession of drug paraphernalia, and operating a vehicle without ever obtaining a driver’s license.
Those arrested are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
