A man and woman are in serious trouble following a traffic stop on Interstate 40. Tennessee State Troopers stopped their vehicle after reportedly noticing erratic driving patterns. Soon after, both the driver and passenger were facing serious criminal charges, including a drunk driving charge.

Troopers reported observing the vehicle drifting out of the proper lane of travel near mile marker 290. When they stopped the car, they allegedly were alerted by signals from a K-9 dog trained to detect illegal drugs. That led to a search of the vehicle and the alleged recovery of over half a gram of methamphetamine. A syringe containing the drug was also reportedly located within the vehicle.

Both the man and woman allegedly had highly constricted pupils. The driver is reported to have failed to field sobriety tests and is also believed to have been driving on a suspended license. Complicating matters is the fact that the woman’s one-year-old child was in the backseat of the car at the time. That led to the mother being charged with child abuse and the man facing charges of reckless endangerment.

As this case moves forward, both the driver and passenger have serious legal matters to attend to. For the man, the drunk driving charge could lead to serious punitive repercussions if he is ultimately convicted. For the woman, conviction on child abuse charges could lead to the loss of her child. There is no word on how either party plans to respond to their charges when they stand before a Tennessee court of law.

Source: herald-citizen.com, “Drifting vehicle leads to drug charges“, Tracey Hackett, Nov. 25, 2016