HANCOCK COUNTY — When a deputy ran a check on a temporary license plate, it led to the discovery of methamphetamine and marijuana.
Brittney N. Ford, 28, 900 block of North Grant Avenue, Indianapolis, has been charged with seven crimes, including a Level 5 felony count of possession of methamphetamine.
She’s also facing a Level 6 felony count of auto theft; a Level 6 felony count of maintaining a common nuisance and four misdemeanor charges stemming from an arrest on Thursday, March 5.
According to a probable cause affidavit, a deputy checking a vehicle in the parking lot at the Speedway store at 5972 W. U.S. 40 discovered its plate was expired. After following the driver and stopping her in the 5700 block of west U.S. 40, the officer checked the vehicle’s VIN and found the vehicle was reported stolen out of Marion County. Ford, the driver, also had a suspended license, the affidavit said.
A closer inspection of the temporary plate showed it had been altered to appear valid.
A search of the vehicle turned up drug paraphernalia and green plant material deputies believed to be marijuana. They also found a backpack with a clear plastic bag containing a crystalline substance that later field-tested positive for methamphetamine.
The total weight of the crystalline substance was 8.2 grams, which deputies said in the report is more than is usually possessed by the typical drug user.
Ford appeared in Hancock County Circuit Court on Monday, March 9, where she was assigned a public defender and given a $7,000 cash bond with a 15-day hold by Judge Scott Sirk.
Ford is set for a pretrial conference on April 2. A 5-year old child in the vehicle at the time of the arrest was reunited with its mother, the report said.
