DUFF, TN (WLAF) – Recently Campbell County Sheriff’s Deputy Preston Mullins was patrolling an area on Melvin Hollow Rd that is a known high drug trafficking area according to the deputy. Mullins noticed a black Ford Escort parked in front of an abandoned building with a female sitting in the driver’s seat. As Mullins was approaching the car, he noticed the driver flash the lights as if she was signaling to someone, according to a report from the sheriff’s office.

When Deputy Mullins made contact with the driver, he noticed she was having trouble focusing and was gazing off. Mullins asked the woman why she was in the area, and she reported that she was trying to use the phone. He requested to see her driver’s license, which she failed to provide. He then questioned her asking if she had anything illegal inside her car, and she reported that she had a Meth pipe inside of a black cosmetics bag in the center console.

When Mullins retrieved the bag, he found two packets of sublingual Suboxone, nine yellow capsule pills identified as Neurontin. The woman denied having a prescription for either substance. He also found a glass smoking device containing a small quantity of a clear rock like substance believed to be Methamphetamine, a set of digital scales and $60.

Mullins again asked the woman why she was in the area, and she reported she was parked waiting on a friend. Mullins asked if he could look at her phone and she complied. According to the report, he found several text messages planning a meet up at the location to exchange money for the substances inside the cosmetic bag.

The woman identified as Melissa Dawn Prater was given a field sobriety test after being transported to the jail to which she performed poorly.

Prater, 33, 701 West Hemlock St., LaFollette was charged with possession of schedule II controlled substance, possession of schedule III controlled substance, possession of schedule V controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia and driving under influence (DUI). (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED – 02/17/2022-6AM)