By Debbie Hall
Patrick County Circuit Court Clerk Sherri Hazlewood, 54, of Claudville, was arrested late Saturday night on charges of breaking and entering and destruction of property, according to a news release from Patrick County Sheriff Dan Smith.
Smith stated the incident began when a concerned resident called the Patrick County E 911 center at 10:40 p.m. and requested that deputies check Hazlewood’s well-being.
Patrick County Sheriff’s Lt. Dustin Foley and Deputy Cody Fortner responded. The two arrived at Hazlewood’s apartment on Big Dan Lake Road around 11 p.m. and made contact with Hazelwood, the release stated.
During the course of the interaction with Hazlewood, deputies discovered that a breaking and entering allegedly had occurred to a building on the property. The release alleged that the contents inside of the building had been thrown onto the floor, and an interior wall was damaged.
Hazlewood was arrested subsequent to the discovery of the break-in and transported to the Patrick County Jail, where she is being held without bond.
Smith said that breaking and entering is a felony, and less than $1,000 in damage was done to the interior of the building.
Hazlewood also was charged on Tuesday, Nov. 1 with one count each possess a controlled substance, and appear in public in an intoxicated condition in connection with an alleged incident in Bland County, according to a criminal complaint.
Bland County Sheriff’s deputy C.J. Brewster responded to a report of a woman “’that was dressed very nicely’ looking through vehicles for the last hour at the I-77 northbound rest area,” the complaint alleged.
Upon Brewster’s arrival, “I saw the suspect later identified as Sherri Hazlewood looking at a tractor & trailor (sic). I asked the female what she was doing and she was a ‘treasure hunter.’ I asked her what she was hunting and she said ‘1289,’” Brewster alleged in the complaint.
Brewster alleged she was told the woman “was at the train station and looking for her train. I asked her what her name was, and she said she didn’t know.”
The complaint stated that when asked if she had been drinking, the woman said “’yes!’ She told me she took two sips of Elijah Craig” Bourbon, the complaint alleged.
Hazlewood voluntarily submitted to a Preliminary Breath Test (PBT) offered and administered by a Virginia State Trooper arriving at the scene, according to the complaint.
Rest stop attendees wanted the vehicle, believed to be Hazlewood’s, removed from the property, Brewster stated in the complaint.
“I asked Hazlewood if the white Lexus she was near belonged to her. Hazlewood said she didn’t know,” the complaint alleged. After running the tag number, the officer determined the car was registered to Hazlewood and asked permission to look in the vehicle for identification. The complaint alleged that offer was refused.
Then, “I asked Hazlewood if she wanted her purse out of the car and she said no because she didn’t want it searched,” the complaint alleged.
The officer explained the vehicle had to be inventoried before it was moved from the property and asked Hazlewood if she wanted her purse, the officer wrote, adding that Hazlewood wanted her purse.
“I told her the purse would have to be searched prior to giving it to her and she agreed,” Brewster wrote in the complaint.
During a search of the purse, “a black pouch was found that contained a straw, a dollar bill with powder in it, and a clear plastic bag that contained a white powder substance. A field test showed it was cocaine,” the complaint alleged.
A warrant for possession of a Schedule II drug was sought.
Hazlewood was transported to the New River Valley Regional Jail and released on a $2,500 bond, the complaint stated.