DRUG FLOW GROWING HERE, SAY OFFICERS

The string of beads hanging from the car's rear view mirror caught the
police officer's eye at a traffic stop on N. Dixie Ave. late Saturday
night. The "beads" were in the shape of marijuana leaves, according to
Cookeville Police Officer Brent Anderson.

He had stopped the car because one of its taillights was out. But from the
time he noticed the "beads," it turned into a drug case.

And that's a scene that is being repeated more and more often in police
work here, officers says.

The illegal drug problem keeps growing, and more and more cases start out
as one type of investigation, but soon turn into drug cases.

"It's one way in which our resources are being stretched, the increasing
frequency of drug problems discovered on other types of calls," said Capt.
Nathan Honeycutt. "It takes up a lot of time."

In the case on Saturday night which went from a traffic violation to a drug
case, one person was arrested.

That was Seana L. Anderson, 28, of Pigeon Ridge Road, Crossville. She is
charged with simple possession of marijuana and possession of drug
paraphernalia.

Officer Anderson said he pulled the car over for the taillight violation,
found the driver appearing to be "nervous" and noticed the marijuana leaf
"beads" on the mirror.

"I asked her if she had any drugs in the vehicle, and she said no," the
officer's report says. "I asked for consent to search the vehicle and she
refused."

So the officer requested a trained drug dog at the scene, and Officer Mitch
Harrington brought one to see if probable cause for a search could be
established.

K-9 Speedy walked around the car and then "stuck his head through the open
window on the driver's side and began scratching and biting at the steering
wheel," the report says.

"Inside the vehicle I found a plastic bag containing a green leafy
substance believed to be marijuana and a glass pipe in a compartment above
the glove box and a plastic bag containing a green leafy substance believed
to be marijuana in a brown purse in the back seat," the report says.

He wrote Seana L. Anderson citations for the drug offenses. She goes to
court June 2.

* In another case on Friday, three officers were sent to investigate a
reported domestic dispute on W. 5th Street.

But when Officers Joe Greenwood and Reno Martin and Sgt. Pat Sealy got to
the location, they found "there was no domestic in the apartment," says a
report by Officer Greenwood.

But allegedly they did find "a piece of tubing believed to be used for
smoking drugs" and, after a search by the trained dog Lacy, they found
other illegal drug items not specified in the report.

They arrested Kevin E. Leonard, 39, of W. 5th St., charging him with drug
possession.

* On Thursday, Officers Chase Mathis and Jason Blythe went to E. 15th St.
looking for a certain suspect, Joe Ray West, 34, of E. 15th St.

After seeing him go into a trailer, the officers entered, announced
themselves as police, and told another man who was present they were
looking for West.

Allegedly, they then found West hiding behind a recliner and also found a
plastic bag containing "two whitish rocks believed to be crack cocaine,"
says Officer Blythe's report.

"We estimated the weight at around one gram," the report says. "Officer
Mathis then found a round piece of copper used as a filter of a crack pipe."

West was charged with possession of drugs for resale and possession of
paraphernalia.

* On Friday night, Officers Bobby Anderson and Darrin Stout were sent to
the Wal-Mart store on a complaint that a man had been at the store service
desk "attempting to return a television set," says a report by Anderson.

As the man was leaving the store, he had dropped "some type of drugs," the
report says.

The officers soon found the man in the parking lot and asked him about the
drugs. He denied knowing anything about any drugs and gave the officers
permission to search his vehicle.

That was James Richard Barbour, 45, of Stover Road, Baxter.

Officer Anderson alleges that Barbour had a syringe in his pocket and a
fresh needle mark on his arm, and that he admitted "to shooting up with
Oxycontin earlier."

"The drugs found in the store were a white powdery substance that field
tested as methamphetamine," the report says.

Another man with Barbour, William J. Allen, 65, of Scott Jones Road,
Cookeville, was found to be wanted on worthless checks warrants, and the
officers took him in along with Barbour.

Allegedly, when the two got to jail, Barbour was found to have "11 more
yellow pills in his pants pockets believed to be Valium," the officer's
report says.

Barbour was charged with possession of meth, possession of paraphernalia,
and bringing drugs into the jail.

Just a few days ago (April 14), Barbour had been arrested by Tennessee
Highway Patrol Trooper Michael Robertson.

The trooper stopped Barbour's vehicle on Interstate 40 near Baxter to
investigate a "litter violation," court records say.

But allegedly, Barbour took off running and "while he was running swallowed
prescription drugs known as Dilaudid," the trooper's warrant says.

Trooper Robertson did catch up with Barbour and arrest him that day,
charging him with tampering with evidence, evading arrest, possession of
narcotics, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

These are just some of the many cases of this type being worked by most law
enforcers in this county on a daily basis.

"Illegal drugs are an ever increasing problem in this growing community,
and frankly, we need more resources to fight the problem," said Capt.
Honeycutt.

He said the growing drug problem here is one reason the Cookeville Police
Dept. has created a special unit called the "Community Nuisance Eradication
Team" to investigate cases where the problem has become so severe it has
generated complaints from law abiding residents of neighborhoods.

"We've operated this unit by rotating patrol officers working overtime
hours, and we have had a very positive response from the public," Honeycutt
said.

He said the city force has also focused recently on raising public
awareness of the growing drug problem "because the more awareness we have,
the more help we get from the public in fighting the problem."