Police: Pills lead to woman sleeping behind the wheel

A Minden woman has been charged with a pair of illegal narcotics counts after officers responding to a suspicious person call at a Lewisville Road convenience store found her unresponsive in a vehicle with its motor running.

Kelly Ely, a 37-year-old resident of the 100 block of Washington, was booked for possession of CDS Sch. II (methamphetamine), possession of CDS Sch. IV (Xanax), disturbing the peace by intoxication and prohibited acts, Minden Chief of Police Steve Cropper said.

When officers Chris Hammontree and Jeremy Sitter arrived at the scene shortly after 10 p.m. last Tuesday, they reportedly found Ely slumped over the steering wheel of the vehicle.

“She did not respond when Officer Hammontree shined his flashlight in her face. She did not wake up when he opened the door to assess her health,” Cropper said. “When they finally did manage to wake her and ask what was wrong, she pointed to a bag containing pills.”

Cropper said officers could see several different bottles of prescription medication and one container with a small blue pill, identified as Xanax, inside. After receiving permission to search the vehicle, the officers reportedly also located a pair of pipes for smoking marijuana and methamphetamines.

“The officers founded suspected marijuana roaches in the vehicle’s ash tray, and found a small baggie containing fragments of suspected methamphetamine, which was later confirmed by a field test,” Cropper said.