A Linton woman, arrested after she allegedly came close to causing a head-on crash with a patrol vehicle in Worthington, was first charged with three misdemeanors involving driving in an impaired state and possession of a controlled substance.

Now she’s facing an additional felony count after officers obtained a search warrant for her car and found a white powdery substance they say field tested positive as cocaine. They also seized numerous other items as evidence in an ongoing investigation into stolen items.

Tracie Marie Shipwash, now 52, Linton, was taken into custody by Greene County Sheriff’s Deputies Heather Wood and Sgt. Bobby Pierce on Friday evening, August 24, outside the Country Porch gas station and convenience store in Worthington.

Deputy Wood was driving southbound on State Road 67 through Worthington, with Sgt. Pierce, around 6:40 p.m. when an oncoming northbound silver Chrysler Sebring operated by Shipwash crossed the center line.

Wood said she had to swerve the patrol vehicle in order to avoid a head-on crash. When she looked in the rearview mirror, she saw the car cross the center line a second time.

The patrol vehicle turned around. Lights and sirens. Shipwash pulled into the gas station.

A records check revealed Shipwash’s driver’s license was suspended so a tow truck was called. Officers reported finding pills in the vehicle, identified as Schedule IV controlled substances – they have been sent to a lab for testing.

Sgt. Pierce administered field sobriety tests and reported Shipwash failed all before she was transported to the sheriff’s department. GCSD Detective Shawn Cullison administered field sobriety tests a second time at the sheriff’s department and also reported she failed. Shipwash refused consent for a chemical test, so Deputy Wood requested a search warrant which was approved by Judge Dena Martin.

The Greene County Ambulance Service responded to the jail for the blood draw but they were unsuccessful and Shipwash was transported to Greene County General Hospital where a blood draw was successfully obtained before 11 p.m. Results are pending.

Greene County Deputy Prosecutor Cheryl Jackson Stone then filed a criminal case against Shipwash and when she appeared for her initial hearing in Greene Superior Court, she was formally charged with: Operating a vehicle while intoxicated endangering a person - a Class A misdemeanor; operating a vehicle while intoxicated - a Class C misdemeanor; and possession of a controlled substance - a Class A misdemeanor.

The investigating officers then requested a search warrant for the vehicle to obtain evidence in regard to an ongoing investigation into stolen items that were found in the car during the traffic stop and the inventory required when the car was towed.

The search warrant was granted and executed on September 4 by Deputy Wood and Sgt. Pierce. They reported finding various new and unopened items that were seized as evidence.

They also reported finding folded papers that contained a white powdery substance that field tested positive as cocaine. The papers were sent to a lab for further analysis.

The initial case against Shipwash has now been dismissed and a new case filed by Chief Deputy Prosecutor Keven McIntosh with the same three counts plus a fourth count of possession of cocaine, a Level 6 felony.

When Shipwash was booked in to the Greene County Jail in August, she was held without bond pending her appearance in court. During the initial hearing, her bond was set at $8,000 surety with ten percent cash allowed. She posted $800 cash and was released.

But after the new case was filed, a warrant was issued for her arrest, she was booked in again last Friday, September 14, and again held without bond pending her court appearance.

This time when she appeared in Greene Superior Court yesterday afternoon, September 18, she was charged with all four counts and the judge set her bond at $8,000 cash in full only, no ten percent allowed.