Wheelchair-Bound Shoplifter Has Light Bulb Used for Drug Smoking

An item in the bag of a woman accused of shoplifting at Walmart caught the eye of a Bartow County Sheriff's Office deputy at the Cartersville store to transport her to jail.

Amanda Darlene Mote, 44, a resident of Guest House at 204 E. Felton Road in Cartersville, was in a wheelchair about 2 p.m. Wednesday when she was detained by Walmart security personnel. Authorities called for a sheriff's office van to take her to jail on a felony shoplifting charge.

But before it arrived, a deputy noticed a light bulb in Mote's belongings.

"While I was talking to (Mote), I observed a plastic bag lying on the bench in front of her. All (Mote's) belongings she was carrying (were) lying on the bench," the deputy wrote in the report. "Without touching the bag, I observed what appeared to be a light bulb that had a small hole in the side of it and burn marks on the side and bottom. 

"I know this to be an item used for smoking drugs. Next to the bag was a small, green key chain container that through my experience was used to hold drugs. I looked in the container and found a small, corner bag containing a crystalline substance that appeared to be meth.

"When (Mote saw) that I found that item, she advised it was no hers."

Mote was arrested and jailed on charges of possession of methamphetamine and shoplifting.

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