Two arrested with meth across the street from Powell High School, police say

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) - Two people were arrested across the street from Powell High School on Wednesday after police officers found meth and other drugs in their car, according to a police report obtained by WVLT News.

Officers found Jess Thomas, 51, sitting in the driver’s seat of a Toyota Camry parked in the parking lot at 2107 West Emory Road. Taylor Roach, 21, was sitting in the passenger’s seat, according to the report.

Thomas told officers that there was marijuana in the car.

Officers said that there was also an outstanding failure to appear in Sevier County for Roach, and a K-9 officer sniffed the car and indicated a positive alert, the report said.

When officers searched the car, they found 11 small bags in total: nine bags of methamphetamine and two small bags of marijuana. Two glass pipes were also found, the report said.

Roach and Thomas were arrested and placed in the back of an officer’s cruiser.

When the two were taken out of the cruiser, officers said that seven of the bags of meth were found “stuffed between the back seat of the cruiser in an attempt to conceal its availability as evidence,” the report said.

They also found a glass pipe on the floorboard where Roach was sitting.

The report said that they found Thomas, Roach and the drugs across the street from Powell High School and within 500 feet of a drug-free zone.

Officers said that he believed, based on his experience, that the bags were intended for sale.

Thomas and Roach were charged with the manufacture, deliver, sale, and possession with intent of meth in a drug-free zone. They were also charged with possession of unlawful drug paraphernalia uses and activities, schedule VI drugs in a drug-free zone for the marijuana that was found and tampering with evidence.