Tina Brown

Two Limestone County sheriff’s narcotics investigators who were eating barbecue at an Athens restaurant Thursday saw what they believed was a drug deal going down as they looked out the window near their unmarked car.

Investigator Jamie King and Deputy Anthony Bruno had just about finished eating when they noticed a woman approach a man in the parking lot near King’s unmarked car, said Deputy Stephen Young, public information officer for the Sheriff’s Office.

The two suspects had a brief conversation, and the woman handed the man an object. The man then took what was apparently money from his wallet and handed it to her. The woman got into a maroon Chrysler van and drove east on U.S. 72.

The law enforcement officers followed the van and saw the driver make an illegal lane change and then a U-turn in the median on 72 before they stopped the vehicle.

King approached the van and saw a male driver, the woman from the parking lot in the passenger seat, and Tina Marie Brown, 37, of 14785 Chris Way, Lot 39, Athens, in the back seat, Young said.

After getting consent from all occupants to search the vehicle, Brown grabbed her purse before getting out, and King asked her if he could check it. She consented, and King found a Suboxone strip for which she had no prescription.

No other narcotics were found in the vehicle. The other two subjects were released.

Brown was arrested on a charge of possession of a controlled substance. She was released from the Limestone County Jail after posting a $2,500 bond.