A report of suspicious circumstances resulted in the arrest of a Winterville woman on possession charges, according to a press release from the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office.

On Dec. 2, the sheriff’s office received notice that three people were in a residence in Chocowinity and were removing items from the property, said the release.

According to Major Kenneth Watson, spokesman for the sheriff’s office, the personal items and clothing belonged to one of the subjects and no criminal charges were filed after deputies discovered the subjects were family members of the prior owner of the residence though they did not have permission to be on the foreclosed-upon property, said Watson.

However, in the course of that discovery, deputies learned that one of the subjects, Ashley Nicole Thomas, 18, of Highway 102, Winterville, had an outstanding order for arrest for a failure to appear in court on a no operator’s license charge, said the release.
It was during a search of Thomas by Deputy Latitia Wade that pills were found in a plastic bag in Thomas’ pants pocket, according to the press release.

“(There were) three capsules in a plastic baggie packaged in a manner consistent with illicit drug use,” Watson said adding that the pills where categorized as amphetamine for which Thomas did not have a prescription.
“Anytime you have a prescription med, it should be kept in the prescription bottle,” Watson said.
Thomas was charged with Felony Possession of a Schedule II Controlled Substance and held in the Beaufort County Detention Center on a $1,200 secured bond.
The subjects were told not to return to the property without the owner.