A Linton woman who told a good story about why she had a controlled substance in her bag was arrested after her story was checked out and didn't turn out to be true.

Katelynn Michael Hartford, 28, Linton, was arrested by Officer Cayden Walker of the Linton Police Department on Saturday night, January 14.

Shortly before 9:00 PM, Officer Walker was on routine patrol when he saw a red Chrysler 300 without a functioning license plate light, headed west on State Road 54 in Linton. While he was looking for a safe place to conduct a traffic stop, the vehicle crossed the center line on the highway then turned onto Price Road. So the officer activated his emergency lights to initiate a traffic stop at the intersection of Price Road and 12th St. NW.

There were three women in the vehicle. Hartford was a front seat passenger. The driver was not wanted on any warrants and had a valid driver’s license. Officer Walker asked her for permission to search her vehicle and she gave her consent. LPD Lieutenant Bobby Pierce, who assisted with the stop, then asked the two passengers if they had bags in the vehicle. Both said they did and both consented to a search of their bags.

During the search, Lieutenant Pierce reported that in Hartford’s bag, he found a plastic orange medicine container with a white plastic lid. The container was labeled “cod and 5” with a black marker. There were two white oval shaped pills inside that were identified as acetaminophen and hydrocodone bitartrate which is a Schedule II controlled substance.

When Officer Walker asked Hartford about the pills, she allegedly admitted they were hydrocodone and then told a story about why she had them. She allegedly said they belonged to a friend she worked with at a bar in the Crane area. She said the pills fell out of her friend's purse and she was just holding on to them for her until Monday. She admitted she did not have a prescription for hydrocodone and said her friend did not want the pills left at the bar for the weekend.

Hartford did not have a phone number for her friend but said they were friends on Facebook and so Lieutenant Pierce ask Hartford to call her friend on Facebook then when Lieutenant Pierce talked to the friend via Facebook call, the friend denied having any prescriptions for medications.

Hartford was placed under arrest and transported to the Greene County Jail where she was booked in at 9:48 PM and held without bond pending her court appearance.

Yesterday afternoon, January 19, Hartford appeared in Greene Superior Court via two way video between the jail and the courtroom for her initial hearing when she was formally charged with possession of a controlled substance, a Class A misdemeanor. A public defender was appointed to represent her and her bond was set at $1000 surety with 10% cash allowed. She has since posted bond and been released from jail.