Worthington woman arrested on drug charges
/A Worthington woman is accused of having an assortment of pills and a quantity of methamphetamine as well as a nice stash of cash in her purse when she was stopped by WPD for speeding on Terre Haute Road yesterday afternoon.
Ashley Lee Cook, 37, Worthington, was arrested by Deputy Marshal Heather Wood of the Worthington Police Department yesterday afternoon, Thursday, February 10.
Cook was the driver of a 2004 Pontiac Sunfire that was stopped by WPD Town Marshal Jim O’Malley around 1:50 p.m. yesterday for speeding on Terre Haute Road in Worthington.
Cook said she was running late for work. Marshal O’Malley told her he smelled something and he asked if she smoked marijuana. She said she does not, but she recently had someone in her vehicle that does smoke marijuana.
When Officer Wood arrived on scene to assist and Cook was asked for consent to search her vehicle, she agreed to a search and also for Officer Wood’s K9 partner Jack to sniff around the vehicle. During the sniff around, Jack gave an alert and Cook allegedly told Marshal O’Malley that there might be a “marijuana nugget” in a bottle inside her purse.
Officer Wood reported finding a number of items during the search, including a small bottle with a plant material inside and another small bottle with three small plastic bags inside that contained a white crystal substance. She also found a pill identified as acetaminophen oxycodone – a controlled substance, and another pill identified as famotidine – a prescribed or over-the-counter medication. The white crystal substances field-tested positive as methamphetamine and had a combined weight between 6.8 and 7.1 grams.
In addition, Officer Wood reported finding an unmarked green pill bottle that contained six different pills including a prescription-only medication of hydrochlorothiazide, lorazepam – a controlled substance, prescription-only cyclobenzaprine hydrochloride, acetaminophen oxycodone hydrochloride – a controlled substance, prescription-only donepezil hydrochloride and a capsule identified as over-the-counter acetaminophen.
According to the report, inside Cook’s purse, three different envelopes were located with varying amounts and denominations of cash totaling $2,243.
Paraphernalia was found as well as a prescription pill bottle with someone else’s name.
Cook allegedly said she had given someone a ride and they must have put the items inside her purse. She allegedly said she did not know the items were there.
A records check revealed Cook did not have any current prescriptions issued to her.
Cook was booked into the Greene County Jail at 3:20 p.m. She was being held without bond pending court appearance.
When she appears for an initial hearing in Greene Superior Court, she is facing charges of:
Possession of methamphetamine, a Level 5 felony,
Unlawful possession of a legend drug, a Level 6 felony,
Possession of marijuana, a Class B misdemeanor, and
Possession of paraphernalia, a Class C misdemeanor.