COVINGTON, Ga. – The Covington Police Department (CPD) arrested a Covington man and a Woodstock woman on drug charges Friday evening after the pair were found sleeping in a car in the parking lot of a Highway 278 grocery store.
According to the CPD incident report, Officer Rory Barber was on routine patrol in the Kroger parking lot on Highway 278 Aug. 18 just after 8 p.m. when he was flagged down by a citizen who told him that a vehicle was parked with two unconscious individuals and possibly a child inside.
According to the report, Barber located the vehicle and observed that the driver and the passenger, later identified as Nathaniel Womack, 33, and Melissa McCrayer, 33, were both unconscious inside a black GMC SUV. According to the report, Barber did not see a child.
According to the report, Barber knocked on the driver’s window and Womack woke up and rolled down the window. When asked why he was sleeping in the parking lot, he reportedly stated that he had a long night. When asked for his driver’s license, Womack reportedly told Barber he did not have one and proceeded to give the officer his name and date of birth. McCrayer was identified by her Georgia driver’s license.
Barber reportedly checked the name Womack had given him through GCIC (Georgia Crime Information Center) and determined through a photo that Womack had provided a false name. According to the report, as Barber was having Womack exit the vehicle, he observed a clear plastic baggie containing a green leafy substance in the driver’s seat. Barber then reportedly asked Womack for his real name and he provided the same false name again.
According to the report, after Barber placed Womack in handcuffs, McCrayer was taken out of the vehicle. Barber asked her for Womack’s name and she reportedly stated that she knew his name but did not want to provide that information. According to the report, she finally provided Barber with Womack’s correct name and when that name was checked by dispatch, it came back with a parole violation.
According to the report, officers conducted a search of the vehicle and found Womack’s Georgia Identification Card. They also reportedly located 14 financial transaction cards on the driver’s side. According to the report, only one card had a name that matched McCrayer.
Between the driver’s seat and the passenger seat, officers also reportedly located a yellow plastic container that contained nine clear plastic baggies with suspected methamphetamine residue. According to the report, two syringes were found on the passenger side of the vehicle. McCrayer was also placed in handcuffs.
According to the report, Womack and McCrayer were transported to the Newton County Jail. Womack was charged with giving a false name, controlled substance possession, and possession of marijuana. McCrayer was charged with controlled substance possession and crossing the guard line with drugs.
