SALINE CO.— A Galatia woman faces a pair of felony drug charges following a traffic stop.
According to information filed in the case, on July 13, at approximately 6:53 p.m. Galatia officer Matt Keltner and Saline County Deputy Lindsey Agin were contacted by dispatch reference a drunk driver northbound from Raleigh on Rte. 34.
Keltner asked for a received authorization to position himself on Telephone Road and make traffic stops as needed.
At approximately 7:11 p.m. Keltner observed a white Dodge extended cab truck, matching the description of an erratic, possible drink driver on Telephone Road.
The vehicle was traveling southbound toward Rte 34.
“I observed the vehicle drive through the stop sign at the intersection of Telephone Road and Rte 34, proceed across the center line approximately 30 yards after turning onto Route 34,” Keltner said. “It then left the roadway, then swerved back onto the roadway where it crossed the centerline again and continued southbound into oncoming traffic.”
At approximately 7:12 p.m. Keltner activated his lights and siren.
“The vehicle refused to stop,” he said.
Two minutes and half a mile later, the driver of the vehicle decided to pull over.
Keltner approached the truck and asked the female driver, later identified as 52-year-old Melody Rose Vinyard, of 111 Legion St., Galatia, if she knew why she was being stopped.
She responded that she was heading to Harrisburg Lake to relax.
“I am just tired,” she said.
“I explained to Ms. Vinyard that that was not what I was asking,” Keltner said. “So I repeated the question several times. Each time Ms. Vinyard’s response was the same.”
That’s about the time officer Keltner noticed Ms. Vinyard had in the vehicle several bottles of medication laying in her opened purse in the seat next to her as well as an unopened beer (a Bud Light Lime Strawberry Margarita) in the passenger seat.
“I asked Ms. Vinyard if she had been drinking,” Keltner said. “She said she had not.”
And that’s about the time when officer Keltner asked her if she had been taking any pills.
“I had a xanax and something else,” Vinyard answered.
When Keltner asked Vinyard to step out of the vehicle she stumbled out, lost her balance several times and agreed to a field sobriety test including a breathalyzer.
She subsequently failed all the field sobriety tests with the exception of the breathalyzer in which she blew a zero.
Vinyard again told officer Keltner that she was merely sleep deprived and that she had taken several pills before getting behind the wheel of the car.
And that’s about the time deputy Agin arrived on scene.
When Keltner asked Vinyard if she had any other medication she pulled out a brown pill bottle with what later tested positive for hydrocodone.
Other pills found within the container included baclofen commonly used in the treatment of alcoholism, alprazolam and methocarbamol, a muscle relaxant and lortab.
Vinyard was booked into the county jail on two counts of Unlawful Possession of a Controlled Substance and one count of Driving Under the Influence of Drugs.
She was released from custody July 26 after a $1,000 cash bond was posted on her behalf by Corey Vinyard of 3791 Strawberry Road, Brookport.