According to a Floyd County Police Department incident report, On March 8th, 2023, Officer Sangphim and Officer George were conducting patrol operations in the area of Chateau Road near US – 411 E when they observed a dark-colored Hyundai Genesis with dark tinted windows fail to maintain it’s lane of travel. Officers conducted a traffic stop on the vehicle and made contact with the driver, who identified herself as Jena Baigh Hopper, 34, of Calhoun. Officer Sangphim reported, “[I] informed her of why [I] stopped her, and she appeared very nervous (hands shaking and avoiding eye contact). PFC. George spoke with the passenger, Alford Windel. Officer Cipriano, who is a K-9 Handler with the Rome Police Department, stopped out with us and ran his K-9 around the vehicle. [I] asked both occupants to exit the vehicle during OFC. Cipriano completed this task. When Jena stepped out of the vehicle, a glass pipe with a white powder-like residue in the stem and bowl fell to the pavement from her person. [I] immediately recognized this as a pipe that is commonly used to smoke methamphetamine, and the residue inside of the pipe was consistent with that of methamphetamine. Both occupants were detained, and [I] advised them both of their Miranda rights. They both stated they understood and were willing to answer questions. [I] also checked the vehicle’s window tint in three separate places on the driver’s side window, and my issued tint meter indicated that the vehicle windows were too dark at 20% for all three tests. OFC. Cipriano informed me that his dog did alert for the presence of drugs within the vehicle.” Officers located a large amount of meth, marijuana, Klonopin, Xanax, Alprazolam, and Clonazepam. Jena was booked into the Floyd County Jail and charged with possession of methamphetamine, possession of a schedule II controlled substance, possession of marijuana, possession of drug-related objects, drugs not in the original container, and a window tint violation.
Calhoun woman arrested on drug charges after window tint violation leads to Rome K-9 alerting on vehicle
