A routine call about an unwanted passenger took a bizarre turn on Friday morning, July 17, when local police arrested the caller instead of the alleged trespasser.

Officers with the Crossville Police Department responded to a call at the Executive Inn on July 17 around 6:30 a.m. after Willie Charles Suggs Jr. reported that an unknown woman was inside his gray Acura.

Upon arriving at the scene, Officer Jackie Grant located Suggs, who flagged down police. When officers informed Suggs that there was no female inside or around his car, he reportedly insisted that she was, claiming, “Yes, she is in my lap and getting heavy.”

Officers quickly noted signs of intoxication, including an open can of Mike’s Harder Lemonade in the cup holder and two empty cans inside the vehicle. After asking Suggs to step out of the Acura, police spotted a glass pipe, commonly used for smoking narcotics, in plain view on the driver’s side floorboard.

A search of Suggs yielded a small clear plastic baggie containing nearly 4 grams of a crystalline substance in his coin pocket. According to police reports, Suggs admitted the substance was methamphetamine and stated he had used the drug about 30 minutes prior to the officers’ arrival.

Determining that Suggs was heavily under the influence and posed a danger to himself and the public, police placed him under arrest. The seized substance field-tested positive for methamphetamine and has been sent to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) for further analysis. The glass pipe was confiscated and destroyed.

Suggs was booked and charged with Public Intoxication and Felony Possession of a Controlled Substance.