Published: November 23, 2009 08:49 am      

Woman allegedly found high at Whitley courthouse

By Adam S. Sulfridge / Staff Writer

A sheriff’s deputy arrested a woman parked outside the Whitley County courthouse after she allegedly stumbled through the courthouse while under the influence of drugs.

Around 10:30 a.m. Friday, several county employees noticed a female acting suspiciously inside the courthouse. One witness said the woman was unsteady on her feet, and another said she had struggled multiple times to get a quarter into a pop machine. Even though she eventually succeeded in purchasing a bottle of Mountain Dew, the witnesses say they knew something was wrong.

The Whitley County Sheriff’s Office was notified of her suspicious behavior, and police watched the woman for further signs of intoxication. When she apparently exited the courthouse and sat down in the driver’s seat of her Ford Taurus, Deputies Josh Price and E.J. Miller, along with Sheriff Lawrence Hodge, intervened to prevent her from operating her vehicle while in such a condition.

After being questioned by the officers, 36-year-old Jodi Lynn Randle reportedly told police that she had taken Methadone earlier that morning. A deputy indicated that he wasn’t sure whether the medication was prescribed to her or if she had obtained it illegally, but Randle told authorities she was at the courthouse because her husband had recently been arrested for drug trafficking. The deputy said he believed she was referring to Benny Burt Randle, who was arrested by the Williamsburg Police Department Wednesday evening after selling an OxyContin to an informant.