By Pat Culverhouse

Recognizing a vehicle driving with switched license plates earned a Minden police officer a drug arrest and has given a local woman a room in the parish lockup.

Minden Chief of Police Jared McIver said officer Anthony Crittendon stopped a vehicle around 9:30 p.m. Tuesday as it emerged from a parking lot on Talton St. McIver said the patrol officer recognized the vehicle as one reportedly bearing switched tags.

During his interview of the driver, 41-year-old Tiffanie Lashay Williams, a resident of the 600 block of Evans St. in Minden, the officer reportedly learned her license was suspended. He also reportedly discovered Williams was the subject of a pair of active warrants.

McIver said Crittendon received permission to search the vehicle and, along with Lt. Chris Hammontree, found a clear plastic container inside a backpack the suspect had on her person as she exited the vehicle.

Inside the container, the officers found 17 pills, which Williams reportedly admitted were Ecstasy drugs.

Williams is being held at Bayou Dorcheat Correctional Center looking at charges of possession of CDS Sch. II (Ecstasy), on bench warrant, fugitive from Webster Parish Sheriff’s Office, switched tags and driving under suspension. Her total bond has been set at $5,000.

This information has been provided by a law enforcement agency as public information. Persons named as suspects in a criminal investigation, or arrested and charged with a crime, have not been convicted of any criminal offense and are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.