THERESA LINEA WILKINS
SALINE CO.— A routine traffic stop has lead authorities to discover yet another dope stash hidden in the underwear of a suspect.
According to police reports, at approximately 3:30 p.m. on September 23, on Logan Street, in Harrisburg, deputy Chuck Welge ran a check on a silver Jeep Cherokee in Harrisburg discovering that the female owner, identified as Amber D. Barnes, 25, of Eldorado, was the subject of an active arrest warrant for failure to show up at a scheduled court hearing.
Not Barnes at the wheel
Welge was unable to get his cruiser turned around in enough time to stop the Jeep in Harrisburg but caught up with it a couple of hours later, at 6:16 p.m., on Locust Street in Eldorado.
Once the vehicle was stopped, the driver, identified as Theresa Linea Wilkins, 49, of 331 West Sloan St., Harrisburg, is said to have stepped out but quickly stepped back in when instructed to do so by deputy Welge.
Once Welge re-confirmed that Wilkins had indeed been revoked, she was placed in handcuffs, taken into custody and secured in the rear of Welge’s squad car.
A passenger in the Jeep identified as Loretta L. Leach, 45, was released from the scene to go about her way.
While waiting for Jones Towing to arrive to impound the vehicle, Welge inventoried the Jeep and located a metal tin in the rear passenger floorboard that contained two clear bags.
One bag contained crystal methamphetamine, while the other contained one blue pill in blue powder suspected to be xanax.
When asked, Wilkins was quick to inform Welge that the metal tin and its contents belonged to Ms. Leach.
Upon arrival at the county detention center, Welge asked Wilkins if she had any drugs or weapons on her person before being taken into the detention center.
Wilkins advised she had neither.
Oh! THAT dope!?!
However once inside the detention center, officer Lindsey Mason noticed Wilkins making suspicious movements and escorted her into a nearby cell for a strip search.
Before Wilkins undressed officer Mason asked her again if she had any drugs or weapons on her and she said she did not.
“As Wilkins took her bra off I discovered one orange and one clear plastic bag that contained white residue in them,” Mason said. “Wilkins was holding the two bags in her hand. I gave her several verbal commands to hand me the bags and she resisted.”
Outside the cell in which the strip search was being done, Wegle said he could hear officer Mason continue to give loud commands for Wilkins to hand her something.
“I asked officer Mason if she were secure and when I got no response I entered the room and instructed Wilkins to stop resisting,” Welge said. “She then handed officer Mason one orange bag and one clear bag.”
Welge asked officer Mason if she felt secure and when she said she did, Welge left the room.
Wilkins was ultimately booked on one count of Unlawful Possession of Methamphetamine.
Owner wants her Jeep back
It appears that once released from the traffic stop scene, Ms. Leach hopped on the phone and contacted the owner of the vehicle being towed, because about 30 minutes after the traffic stop, while Ms. Wilkins was revealing her stash, Amber D. Barnes contacted authorities requesting to speak with deputy Welge about getting her Jeep back.
She informed police that she was calling from her sister’s house, located at 1913 Chestnut St., in Harrisburg.
Moments later deputies Welge and Steve Sloan arrived at 1912 to speak with Ms. Barnes and did exactly that after placing her in handcuffs, taking her into custody for Failure to Appear warrant.
Whether or not Ms. Barnes bonded out and got her Jeep back is unclear.
Loretta effect
And Loretta Leach, Wilkins’ passenger who reached out to Ms. Barnes and landed her behind bars, is herself a convicted felon, having been found guilty of Forgery February 27, 2013, earning herself a sentence to the Illinois Department of Corrections of five years.
Prison math being what it is put Ms. Leach back on the streets in time to participate in Ms. Wilkins’ legal difficulties and share the wealth with Ms. Barnes.
In addition to what prison time she did serve, Leach was ordered to pay $1,066.46 in fines and fees, of which she hasn’t bother to pay a dime.
And at the time her buddies were being transported to the county jail one after the other, Ms. Leach was out on bond from a June 12, 2016 case in which she is charged with felony Theft.
In a letter to the court dated October 12, Wilkins pleads for her $2,000 cash bond to be reduced to $1,000 because that’s all her family could come up with and she so wanted to go to rehab.
It looks as if that plea may have worked because, Wilkins was released from police custody November 8 after a $1,000 cash bond was posted on her behalf by Dorothy Leach, 82, of 22 Walnut St., Harrisburg.
It is unclear how Wilkins is doing trying to get into a rehabilitation program.
On her bond sheet Wilkins listed 100029 Yellow Banks Rd., Benton, as her new address.