Driving at a low rate of speed and crossing the center line on State Road 54 initiated a traffic stop for a 44-year-old Worthington woman, which later resulted in her Dec. 15 arrest on several charges including possession of drugs and paraphernalia. 

While on patrol in the late evening hours of Dec. 14, Linton Police Officer Cayden Walker spotted a gray Ford Focus traveling at a low rate of speed, approximately 20 miles per hour, on State Road 54. When the vehicle crossed the centerline, Officer Walker initiated a traffic stop in which the driver — Charity Lynn Sells — pulled into the Linton Shopping Center. 

When asked why she was traveling at a low rate of speed and crossing the centerline, Sells told Officer Walker it was because her glasses were broken and she was having problems seeing. Sells allegedly denied consuming alcoholic beverages that evening but admitted to smoking marijuana as recently as three to four hours before the traffic stop. 

Sells submitted to and failed a field sobriety test. Due to this, she was detained and informed she would be taken to the Linton Police Department for an investigation. 

Sells also informed Officer Walker marijuana was present in her vehicle. Officer Janzen Franklin of the Linton Police Department conducted a search of the vehicle and located a hand-rolled cigarette containing burnt plant residue with an odor of burnt marijuana. He also located a purple metal grinder containing green plant-like material and a white and orange metal smoking device containing burnt plant-like material residue. 

Once at the Linton Police Department, another field sobriety test was performed, this time in a controlled environment. Sells also failed this test.

Sells denied consent for a blood test; however, a search warrant was requested and approved for the best by the courts. She was taken to Greene County General Hospital for the blood draw, then transported to Greene County Jail. 

Her bond was set at $5,000 surety with 10% cash allowed. She posted $500 and was released later the same day. 

When she appears in Greene Superior Court on Jan. 9 for an initial hearing, she will be formally charged with: 

• Operating a Vehicle While Intoxicated, a Class C Misdemeanor

• Operating a Vehicle with a Schedule I or II Controlled Substance or its Metabolite in the person’s body, a Class C Misdemeanor

• Possession of Marijuana, a Class B Misdemeanor

• Possession of Paraphernalia, a Class C Misdemeanor