Two people were arrested following a traffic stop on Saturday in Clinton. Clinton Police Officer Jennifer Hutchins was on routine patrol on Buffalo Road Saturday morning shortly after 8:45 am when she was passed by a car with its windows tinted beyond the legal limit. She initiated a traffic stop and the car pulled over in the parking lot of the Hardee’s on Buffalo Road.
The driver was soon identified as Charles Messamore and found to have an active warrant for his arrest in Anderson County, while his passenger and the car’s owner, Ashley O’Donnell, was found to have a warrant out of Knox County.
Hutchins asked Messamore to exit the vehicle and when he opened the door, reported she saw a gun holster next to the driver’s seat, problematic because the records check revealed he was a convicted felon and state law prohibits felons from carrying firearms. Messamore told Hutchins he “wasn’t sure” if there was a gun in the car, but did say there was hypodermic needle by his seat.
O’Donnell then exited the vehicle, told Hutchins she was unaware of a gun in the car and admitted to having needles in her purse because she was an IV drug user.
During a subsequent search, officers found a pistol in between the passenger seat and center console, as well as a backpack containing over 44 grams of a substance believed to be meth, as well as digital scales used to measure drugs for resale.
Messamore was read his rights and told Officer Hutchins that the gun was his and that while he would “take full responsibility” for the drugs found in the car, they actually belonged to his cousin, who they had “just dropped off.”
O’Donnell, meanwhile, being interviewed apart from Messamore, told investigators he had placed the gun where it was found as he was being pulled over, and that no one else, including Messamore’s “cousin,” had been in the car with them that morning.
Messamore was charged with the manufacture, delivery or sale of meth, driving while in possession of meth, unlawfully possessing a weapon and the original window tint violation, along with the active warrant for his arrest, and booked into the Anderson County Jail. O’Donnell was arrested and held for Knox County authorities.
Ashley O’Donnell
| Charge | Bond |
|---|---|
| HOLD PLACED | 0 |
Charles Messamore
| Charge | Bond |
|---|---|
| PROBATION VIOLATION | 100000 |
| MFG/DEL/SALE/POSS METHAPHETAMINE | 5000 |
| WEAPON, UNLAWFUL CARRY, TO GO ARMED | 3000 |
| DRIVING WHILE IN POSSESSION OF METHAMPHE | 2000 |
| VIOLATION TINT LAW | 0 |