LAFOLLETTE, TN (WLAF) – A passenger in a pick-up truck was not wearing her seatbelt, and it cost her and the driver a trip to jail. La Follette Police Officer Isaiah Lloyd was heading down South Avenue on Monday morning when he saw the maroon Chevy Canyon pick-up traveling south up South Avenue.

Lloyd turned around, initiated the cruiser’s emergency equipment and pursued the Chevy. As Lloyd followed the pick-up, it turned west onto West Hill Street, and he saw several items, including small bags, being thrown out of the passenger window, according to the LPD report.

Once stopped, Lloyd spoke with the driver identified as 46- year- old Tommy Steakley of 601 South Sudenny Lane, La Follette. LPD Dispatch advised the officer that Steakley had two active warrants.

Lloyd learned the truck’s displayed registration did not belong to that particular vehicle. Steakley reportedly admitted to the officer that the truck was not insured. Steakley allegedly had a bag in the front pocket of his hoodie that was believed to contain meth.

Sgt. Melissa Phillips responded to the scene and spoke to the passenger, 29 -year- old Elizabeth Leinart, homeless. All the while dealing with police, Leinart had given her sister’s name and date of birth instead of her own name. She confessed at the jail saying she was really Elizabeth Leinart.

Leinart gave the sergeant permission to be searched, and the sarge found a set of scales in Leinart’s pants. In the police report, it was written that Leinart was given the scales by Steakley along with several baggies and told to throw it out the window.

Inside the truck, a pipe with marijuana residue on it was found and claimed by Leinart, along with the marijuana found in the cab and in her personal bag. Multiple cut straws containing white powder residue, fake U-S currency and many small baggies were also discovered in the Chevy, based on the police report.

LPD Officer Cheyenne White recovered more than 30 red, clear baggies from the roadway. These were the same bags Officer Lloyd saw being thrown from the truck. The back battery cover for the scales was also retrieved from the road side.

Leinart was charged with criminal impersonation, tampering with evidence, littering, possession of schedule VI controlled substance, seatbelt law, organized retail theft, burglary and holds for Anderson and Knox Counties.

The charges levied against Steakley are the manufacture, delivery, sell of schedule II controlled substance, tampering with evidence, possession of drug paraphernalia, violation of the Tennessee financial law and registration law, aggravated assault, criminal simulation and order of conditional forfeiture of bond.

Leinart is due in court tomorrow morning and remains housed in the Campbell County Jail on a $7,500 bond. A $175,000 bond for Steakley was set, and he, still in jail, will appear before the judge on Sep. 26. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED 09/20/2023-6AM)

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