Lincoln County Sheriff's Deputy Jeneatta Lopez points to tire tracks made by Charles Motes of Orchard Road
after he lost control of his pickup truck Friday night.
Lopez found $1,200 in marijauna, scales, rolling papers and a loaded handgun in Motes' vehicle.
Photo by Jon Mayhew/The Carolina Scoop


THE CAROLINA SCOOP EXCLUSIVE

DEPUTY ARRESTS SUSPICIOUS SUSPECT ON DRUG CHARGES
Scores $1,200 worth of marijauna, paraphenelia in bust

By Jon Mayhew
Publisher

IRON STATION -- She's known to colleagues at both the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office and Lincolnton Police as "J-Lo." We're not talking about the actress and singer, however. Officers are fondly speaking of Lincoln County Sheriff's Office deputy Jeneatta Lopez, who has been with the Sheriff's Office for almost one year.

Friday night, Lopez scored a huge drug bust while answering a traffic call within her patrol area, which is the Iron Station area. That single event would eventually lead to around $1,200 worth of marijauna and drug paraphernelia being taken off the streets and would place a man in jail who was close to making it home.

Lopez, a Lincoln County native, knew something wasn't quite right when she first started talking to Charles Motes, the driver of a pickup who had spun out of control right before Lopez arrived on the scene.

In her mind, he was acting strangely.

"I kept having to tell him to stand over by me because he kept going towards his truck," said Lopez.

The call started as someone calling Lincoln County Communications to report Motes driving carelessly on Orchard Road. Lopez said he lost control of his vehicle, overcorrected and spun around 180 degrees.

She arrested Motes for driving under the influence of alcohol. After securing the suspect, she went to search his vehicle and hit paydirt.

The smell first told her she needed to look for something.

"It was the odor of burnt marijauna," said Lopez. "I then found about 10 ounces of marijauna in a large ziploc bag."

That wasn't all the Crouse native found in the vehicle.

She also found scales, rolling papers and smaller bags for packaging. Lopez also made an otherwise startling discovery inside the golve box.

"It was a loaded handgun," said Lopez, adding she wasn't surprised to make the discovery. "That's just doing my job, making sure the gun is secure and making sure its safe."

Motes was taken to the Harven A. Crouse Detention Center under an $8,000 bond on charges of driwing while impaired; carrying a concealed weapon; possession of drug paraphernelia; careless and reckless driving; manufacturing, sale and delivery of mairjauna. Motes bonded out of jail over the weekend. He blew a .20 on the breathelyzer, which is almost three times the legal limit.

Lopez, who graduated from West Lincoln High School in 2002, liked the criminal justice field so much that after she graduated from college, she took Basic Law Enforcement Training. Her first job was at the Conover Police Department in Catawba County.

Now, she's home in Lincoln County and can be found patrolling Baker east district covering Highway 150 to the Catawba County line and Highway 73 to Old Plank Road.

"I absolutely love Lincoln County," said Lopez. "Most people are very respectful of the female (law enforcement) officers."

Motes, she added, didn't say very much at all.

"All he wanted to do was call his wife," said Lopez.

While Lopez said she feels she didn't do anything special, her colleagues beg to differ. Ask her direct supervisor, Sgt. Will Pitts.

"I'm really proud of her," said Pitts. "She did great."