If you report a crime to the police, don’t be carrying illegal narcotics when you speak to an officer and definitely don’t let it fall out of your pocket when you’re standing in front of him.

Tom Jefferson Welch, 23, 1405 Peach Orchard Road, Lot 1, Union, is charged by the Union County Sheriff’s Office with two counts of possesson of a controlled substance.

A deputy was dispatched Tuesday afternoon to Linersville Road in response to a report of a stolen debit card. The deputy reports when he arrived he was met by Welch who, while trying to explain about a missing debit card, pulled his hands out of his pockets. When he did so, the deputy writes, a baggy fell out of his right pocket and to the ground beside his right foot. Welch didn’t notice the baggy lying on the ground so the deputy picked it up.

Inside was a white oblong pill with M358 on one side and a score line on the other side and a small round green pill with Mylan 477 printed one one side and scoreline on the other side. The deputy reports he believed the oblong pill was hydrocodone and the round one Diazepam.

Welch was placed under arrest and transported to the Union County Jail where he remained until being released Wednesday on bond.

Investigation

The following incident is being investigated by the sheriff’s office:

Truck Stolen

Keys left in a truck not only enabled a thief to steal the vehicle but to use it as a battering ram to make his escape from a local business.

The victim told the responding deputy when he arrived to open his business at 1318 Jonesville Highway on Thursday morning he found someone had rammed the gate, breaking the lock and damaging the gate and supports. The deputy noted the damage was made by a vehicle leaving the yard and the victim discovered a truck was missing. The victim said the keys had been left in the vehicle overnight.

The truck is a 1980 GMC flatbed with a white cab and an orange steel rack on the back used for moving septic tanks. The truck has the name Piedmont Concrete Company on the cab doors.

The victim estimated the damage to the gate at $800. The value of the vehicle was not known.

Other than the truck nothing was taken from the yard and there were no signs of entry into the shop or office building. Nothing else was damaged besides the gate.

The following incident is being investigated by the Union Public Safety Department:

Counterfeiting

A public safety officer was dispatched to a business on Thompson Boulevard on Wednesday evening in response to a report of a counterfeit bill. The owner told the officer someone had passed a counterfeift $20 bill at his establishment sometime late that afternoon. The officer took the bill as evidence.

Arrests

The following person was arrested by the sheriff’s office:

Kenneth Gerald Walton, 45, 115 215 Loop, Union, charged Thursday with driving under suspension.

The following person was arrested by the public safety department:

Jennifer Lynn Lee, 20, 707 Old Ferry Road, Union, charged Wednesday with shoplifting.