MIAMI COUNTY, Ohio -- A Miami County grand jury will be asked to consider eight criminal counts against Lisa Wells, an attorney and WLW radio host stopped in late January on suspicion of operating a vehicle while impaired.
The eight charges include four counts of felony drug possession, one count of misdemeanor drug possession, OVI and two other misdemeanors, according to WCPO media partner the Journal-News.
Wells was stopped Jan. 25 by an Ohio State Highway Patrol trooper on southbound Interstate 75 near Piqua, Ohio, official documents show.
The arresting officer said he found pills on the front seat of Wells' car.
"When the driver exited, several pills were observed in plain view on the car's seat ... prescription pills were located during a probable cause search," according to the officer's report.
The pills were not prescribed to Wells, the Highway Patrol said. Another WLW host, Bill Cunningham, said the pills were Percocet.
Cruiser camera video shows the trooper saying he identified one of the pills as Adderall, a stimulant.
"Adderall?" Wells says, sounding surprised. "I don't have a prescription for that."
Later, after Wells is handcuffed and put under arrest, another trooper identifies one of the pills as Hydrocodone, a narcotic pain medication.
That trooper asks Wells if she can identify any of the pills.
"No," she says.
WLW's program director has said Wells, a defense attorney and part-time fill-in host, would remain off the air until her legal case plays out.
On the video, the trooper tells Wells she was "all over the road" and says "your story is not quite lining up."
"When I asked you where you were coming from, you said, 'Ask my husband.' But your husband is not in the car with you, OK? Not only is he not in the car with you, you pulled out your cell phone. I'm not sure who you were going to call."
The officer says Wells "hit the accelerator extremely hard, revving the engine" after he pulled her over.
"I don't know if you actually know how to operate your motor vehicle, ma'am," he says. "Does that make sense? You also had a hard time when you were shifting it."
"It's not my car," Wells says.
Wells refuses to take a field sobriety test, reminding the trooper who he's talking to.
"I'm a criminal defense attorney. I'd be an idiot to do a field sobriety test," she says.
But she also expresses concern for what her arrest might do to her career.
"I don't want to get fired from my job," she says.
Wells' only public comment has been a terse statement to WCPO on the phone last month. "I am not a public figure and you should not be reporting this," she said, then promptly hung up.
Wells practices law in Ohio and Kentucky and could face sanctions in both states depending on what happens in court.
