CHILLICOTHE, Ohio – A routine call to police about a woman allegedly waving a gun at someone in a BP gas station parking lot turned into something much bigger after officers found a loaded firearm, suspected drugs, and two young children inside her U-Haul van.
Authorities were dispatched to the BP on East Main Street Tuesday evening after a caller claimed a woman, later identified as Haley Scott, who was driving a U-Haul van, was flashing a firearm. When police arrived, they found Scott in the driver’s seat with her four-year-old child sitting on her lap while her nine-year-old was outside pumping gas.
Gun-flashing allegation leads to bigger discovery
When questioned about the complaint, Scott denied waving a firearm at anyone but admitted she had a gun in the vehicle. She claimed the whole situation stemmed from a Facebook video she had posted earlier in which she was brandishing two guns while talking to the camera.
However, the caller told a different story. She alleged that while driving, she noticed a U-Haul following her, so she pulled into the McDonald’s parking lot on East Main Street. She claimed the U-Haul pulled up next to her, and Scott held up a black pistol and waved it at her before taking off.
After receiving consent to search the U-Haul, police found a loaded 9mm Smith & Wesson handgun in the center console—with a round in the chamber. At first, officers left the firearm in the vehicle, but when they later went to seize it as evidence, they made another discovery: a plastic baggie containing a powdery substance, suspected to be narcotics.
Drugs, kids, and a loaded weapon
A further search uncovered three baggies of a suspected drug and a cut straw with residue inside Scott’s purse. She claimed the drugs belonged to someone else who had been in the van the night before.
Officers, according to the report, advised her that she would be facing a weapons under disability charge.
Charges pending
The suspected drugs have been sent to BCI for testing, and additional possession charges could be filed depending on the results. As of now, no aggravated menacing charge is being pursued due to a lack of evidence.
The investigation remains ongoing.