On June 2, 2021, at approximately 11:35 pm, an officer of the Frederick Police Department’s Patrol Squad E was travelling in the area of Route 40 and Baughmans Lane when they observed a Gold Minivan weaving between the lanes of travel. The officer followed the vehicle and after seeing it nearly strike a parked car on Norva Avenue, they attempted to stop the minivan by activating their emergency lights and siren. The vehicle continued to drive at a slow speed and ran a stop sign at a 4-way intersection. Upon realizing that the vehicle was failing to stop, the officer turned off their emergency equipment, backed away, but continued to monitor the minivan. The officer also conducted a check of the vehicle’s registration which showed that the registered owner, Tiffany Marie Neal (DOB 05/18/1987), had a suspended license and an active arrest warrant for failing to appear in court for a previous DUI/DWI arrest.
After a short distance, the minivan was observed pulling into a shopping center on South Jefferson St. The officer again attempted to stop the vehicle by activating their emergency equipment, but the minivan drove away at a slow speed and ran a red signal when leaving the parking lot. The patrol officers discontinued following, but the van conducted a U-turn and drove back into the same parking lot. Not wanting the minivan to flee again, officers kept a distance from the van and monitored it in the parking lot.
Members of the Street Crimes Unit were working at the time and responded to the shopping center to assist. Street Crimes Unit detectives operate unmarked vehicles and do not wear uniforms so they took up surveillance of the van and patrol units moved out of sight. After monitoring the minivan in the parking lot for approximately 10 minutes, two Street Crimes Unit detectives approached the minivan on foot and made contact with the driver, Tiffany Neal. The detectives identified themselves and asked Ms. Neal to exit the vehicle. Neal refused to exit and locked the vehicle doors. Detectives spoke to Neal for several minutes and were able to convince her to exit the vehicle. Upon exiting, she was placed under arrest without incident. After being arrested, Neal told the detectives that she had smoked Phencyclidine (PCP). Officers searched the minivan and were able to locate two small bottles containing suspected PCP.
The initial patrol officer took custody of Neal and transported her to police headquarters for processing. Neal refused to take a Standardized Field Sobriety Test and a test administered by a Drug Recognition Expert.
In addition to being served with her arrest warrant, Neal was charged with the following:
- Possession of Phencyclidine
- Driving on a Suspended License
- Reckless Driving
- Negligent Driving
- Driving While Impaired
Case Report Number: 2021-041040
Date: June 2, 2021
Author of Release: Sgt. Shatlock
Incident type: Drug arrest
POC: Sgt. Shatlock - JShatlock@FrederickMDPolice.org