Hammonds

ELKINS — A woman is behind bars after law enforcement allegedly found nearly 30 grams of heroin and other drugs in her vehicle.

Anna Maria Hammonds, 40, is being charged with felony counts of possession with the intent to deliver heroin and possession with the intent to deliver Alprazolam (Xanax). She is being held in the Tygart Valley Regional Jail on a $25,000 cash-only band set by Randolph County Magistrate Mike Dyer.

According to a criminal complaint filed in magistrate court by Elkins Police Department Senior Patrolman N.G. Elbon, on Saturday around 10:15 p.m., Elbon conducted a traffic stop on a Chrysler 300 and the registration displayed returned to a Chevrolet Trailblazer. Elbon made contact with the driver, Hammonds, and requested her driver’s license and other documentation for the vehicle.

According to the complaint, Elbon and Randolph County Deputy T.J. Knotts could detect the odor of marijuana coming from the vehicle.

“When officers asked Hammonds about the marijuana odor, she told officers about a container and then showed us the container that contained a small amount of a green leafy substance consistent with marijuana,” Elbon writes in the complaint. “Officers then asked Hammonds and the passenger … to step out of the vehicle.”

Knotts began to search Hammonds’ purse and she stated there was “some fake fentanyl” inside of it, the complaint states. Inside the purse officers allegedly found a clear plastic baggie containing approximately 5.8 grams of a white in color powder substance consistent with heroin, a sonic digital scale with a white powder residue consistent with heroin, and a small clear baggie containing 12 pills identified as Alprazolam, more commonly known as Xanax.

According to the complaint, officers also found a small rubber container commonly used to conceal illicit substances; a large piece of foil commonly used to smoke illicit substances; a smaller piece of foil with a burn residue on it; $135 in cash and a clear plastic baggie containing approximately 1 gram of a crystal-like substance consistent with methamphetamine. Hammonds and the passenger were placed in hand restraints. Hammonds was placed in Elbon’s cruiser and then the officers began to search the car.

“Officers located a clear baggie with approximately 27.3 grams of a white in color substance also consistent with heroin,” Elbon writes in the complaint. “I then read Hammons her Miranda Rights, to which she verbally stated she understood and verbally stated she would speak with me.”

According to the complaint, Hammonds allegedly told officers the suspect heroin was hers and that she had it for several days. When asked about the scales, she said she had them because “people would always rip me off.”

Elbon told Hammonds he was under the impression that she was the “middle woman” and that she gets the drugs off her friend and then gives it to people below her, and she responded, “Yeah,” the complaint states.

Hammonds was taken to the Elkins Police Department for processing and read her rights again and she verbally agreed to speak with Elbon again, according to the complaint. She told officers about messages on her cell phone related to the suspected heroin. Elbon retrieved the phone and while he was looking at it with Hammonds, other parties were unsending their messages.

“Due to the amount of heroin Hammonds admitting to using and the amount of suspected heroin found based on this officer’s training, knowledge and experience with the Elkins Police Department, the amount was inconsistent with personal use with the quantity she had, leading this officer to believe Hammonds is selling and distributing heroin,” Elbon writes in the complaint.

Hammonds was then transported to the Tygart Valley Regional Jail.