Officers discover meth concealed in Chitwood’s backside

Wanted man arrested during traffic stop by La Follette Police

LAFOLLETTE, TN (WLAF)-Having prior knowledge of an outstanding warrant for the arrest of Derrick Chitwood, prompted a traffic stop by La Follette Police Narcotic Det. Noah Riggs last Wednesday night. Riggs was patrolling along the four lane when he spotted Chitwood in the front passenger seat of a 2010 silver Mazda sedan.

Once the detective confirmed his thought with dispatch, he and backup officer Sgt. Anthony Mahar conducted the traffic stop near the Peoples Bank of the South Mall Branch.

Before officers made contact with the driver of the car and Chitwood, they noticed Chitwood allegedly lean back in his seat and raise his hips out of the seat appearing to conceal something on his person, according to the report. Mahar asked Chitwood to step out of the car telling him he was under arrest for an outstanding warrant.

Upon the sergeant placing Chitwood’s hands behind his back and patting him down, prior to placing him in the police cruiser, there was the strong odor of human excrement, the report said. Chitwood told the police he’d just used the restroom at a nearby gasoline station.

The driver of the car gave permission for the officers to search the car where they allegedly found shards of a crystal-like substance where Chitwood was sitting along with a new plastic baggie with both corners cut out in the floorboard of the passenger side. That prompted Riggs to advise Chitwood that if he had anything on his person that was illegal to tell him before entering the jail with Chitwood allegedly saying that he did not.

Riggs was notified by Campbell County Jail Corrections Officer Matthew Clemons that during a body scan on intake that Chitwood showed a possible foreign object inside Chitwood’s body.

Campbell County Jail Investigator Zack Daughtery was called to join the investigation to interview Chitwood. It was during that interview when Chitwood allegedly admitted to having illegal narcotics in his rectum, according to the report from the La Follette Police Department.

Once the baggie was removed from Chitwood’s body, Riggs used the Tru-Narc device to test the contents of the baggie ending in a positive result of meth. The approximate weight of the baggie and its content came out to 7.5 grams, the report from La Follette Police said.

Chitwood, 41, of Hwy 116, Caryville, was charged with a violation of probation warrant, possession-manufacture-sell-delivery of schedule II (meth), tampering with evidence and introduction of contraband into a penal facility. Chitwood, who has more than 20 career arrests, waits in the Campbell County Jail without bond for a July 10 court date, according to a jail official. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED-07/08/2025-6AM)