Police say a woman told them she was on her way to pick up her children when she was stopped downtown.
That was before she was charged with driving under the influence first offense, failure to maintain control, possession of Schedule II drugs, possession of Schedule III drugs and open container.
Chanda Nave, 27, 1224 Broad St., Elizabethton, was arrested and charged Monday by the Elizabethton Police Department after Officer Kenneth Lowe stopped her near East Elk Avenue and Main Street.
Lowe wrote in his report that he was responding to a call to be on the lookout for a possible intoxicated driver in the area of East Elk Avenue when he spotted a black Lincoln Navigator cross the lane divider twice and the fog line once, nearly hitting a curb.
The driver, later identified as Nave, was pulled over, and Lowe said he noticed Nave’s eyes were bloodshot and that she smelled of alcohol. Lowe said he asked her why she was driving poorly.
“Ms. Nave stated she was looking for her phone and she was late to pick up her children,” Lowe wrote in the arrest report.
EPD Cpl. Sarah Ellison also responded, and wrote in her report that she overheard Nave making similar remarks.
“During the traffic stop, and prior to the (field sobriety tests), the vehicle operator was speaking on the telephone,” Ellison wrote. “Nave related to the person that when she was finished (with) her contact with police that she would be en route to pick up her children.”
Ellison said Nave gave permission to search her vehicle, where she said an open liquor bottle was found in the center console with a “quantity” of liquor missing. Ellison also said she found a plastic cup and a bottle of Dr. Pepper
“An odor of an alcoholic beverage, mixed with Dr. Pepper, was detected emitting from the plastic cup,” she noted in the report.
According to Lowe’s report, during the field sobriety tests, he observed that Nave was “unsteady,” “lethargic” and performed poorly “consistent with someone under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs.” He also reported that Nave admitted taking a Lortab earlier in the day.
During the search of the vehicle, Ellison said she also discovered what she believed to be Suboxone pills, the wrapper for a Suboxone strip and a wrapper containing three pieces of a white substance believed to be crack cocaine in Nave’s purse.
Nave was transported to Sycamore Shoals Hospital for a blood alcohol test and then to the Carter County Detention Center. She is scheduled to appear in General Sessions Court on Sept. 8.