Traffic stop turns into drug bust

Published 9:02 pm Tuesday, December 23, 2008

A West Virginia woman and her Chesapeake companion were arrested early Tuesday morning after a traffic stop turned into a drug bust and a child protection issue.

Melissa Walker, 34, of Barboursville, was charged with trafficking in drugs and possession of criminal tools. Kevin Robinson, 40, of 22 Township Road 1047, Chesapeake, was charged with trafficking in drugs and falsification. Both were taken to the Lawrence County Jail.

According to a report from Lawrence County Sheriff’s Deputy Randy Rogers, he stopped Walker’s car because she was weaving as she drove westbound on County Road 1 near the Solida Road overpass just after 1 a.m. Rogers noted in his report Walker’s speech was slurred and she could not produce a driver’s license or the car registration even after several minutes of searching.

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Robinson initially gave authorities a fake name when they asked him who he was. He later admitted his real name when authorities could not find any information on him.

“A young female subject was seated in the back on the driver’s side and an infant was in a car seat in the back seat on the passenger side,” Rogers said.

When Robinson was taken to jail, a search revealed he had 30 Vicodin tablets, six and a half Xanax, a small bag of marijuana and $421 in cash.

Another $399 was found in an envelope, as well as Walker’s driver’s license, a short straw commonly used to snort pills and a set of digital scales.

When Walker was taken to the jail, she was found to have $1,475 in cash hidden in her bra.

“I asked Ms. Walker to take off her jewelry and anything that might be in her pockets, she did so,” Lawrence County Sheriff’s Cpl. Bob Bowles stated in his report.

Ms. Walker handed me some money that totaled $418. I then asked her if she had anything else on her. She then reached down into her shirt, around the chest area and pulled out some more cash.”

The total amount of cash collected during Walker’s search was $1,893.

The children were released to the care of another person. The report did not specify who came to get the children.