According to a report by the Rockwood Police Department, on November 30, 2025, Rockwood Police Officer Jason A. Lee initiated a traffic stop on North Gateway Avenue after observing a vehicle driven by Mckinley Gunter traveling with a non-functioning headlight.

After activating his emergency lights, the vehicle failed to stop immediately, passing several safe pull-off locations and traveling approximately 0.4 miles at low speed before stopping on Delozier Lane. Gunter claimed he neither saw the lights nor heard sirens.

During a consensual search of his person, officers located three capped hypodermic needles in a jacket pocket; Gunter stated the jacket was not his and he was unaware of the needles. A subsequent consensual search of the vehicle revealed a small amounts of a crystal-like substance, believed to be methamphetamine, inside a plastic baggie in the center console (with a portion of the bag appearing torn off) and scattered on the driver’s seat and floorboard.

Gunter denied knowledge of the substances and claimed he was being set up by his ex-girlfriend. After being read his Miranda rights, he agreed to speak without an attorney and denied swallowing anything.

At the Roane County Jail, a body scan revealed two small rectangular objects in Gunter’s stomach that resembled the plastic baggie found in the vehicle, raising suspicion that he had ingested drugs.

Gunter was booked into jail, and the suspected methamphetamine recovered from the vehicle was collected, placed into evidence, and submitted for laboratory testing.