Portland police say a routine plate scan turned into a drug bust on Sunday after an automated license-plate reader flagged a vehicle as stolen, leading officers to arrest a man now facing a long list of charges.
Officers identified the driver as Anthony Wayne Tompkins. According to police, Tompkins showed several signs of drug impairment and was already wanted on a probation-violation warrant out of Robertson County. A search of the vehicle turned up roughly 7 grams of suspected fentanyl and a small amount of methamphetamine, officers reported. Tompkins was taken to the Sumner County Jail and is now charged with theft, possession of fentanyl for resale, possession of methamphetamine, drug paraphernalia, driving under the influence and driving on a suspended license.
The Portland Police Department shared its version of events in a post on Tuesday, writing in a Facebook post that officers received a stolen-vehicle alert from an automated license-plate reader, then pulled the vehicle over in Portland. The department says the search that followed uncovered about 7 grams of a substance that field-tested positive for fentanyl, along with a smaller amount of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia. The post also notes that Tompkins' driver’s license was suspended and that he had an active probation-violation warrant from Robertson County, so officers took him into custody on the spot.
ALPR alert teed up the traffic stop
Automated license-plate readers continuously scan plates and run them against hot lists that include stolen vehicles and other alerts, giving officers a quick notice when a plate hits. Police departments have increasingly paired plate readers with artificial intelligence and analytics tools to pull matches from partial or obscured plates and from large data sets, a tactic that has helped in other stolen-car recoveries, as reported by WGLT. Portland police credited one of these reader hits with pointing officers to the vehicle that led to Sunday’s stop.
Small seizure, big fentanyl concerns in Tennessee
State health officials say illicit fentanyl is a major driver of Tennessee’s spike in overdose deaths and that it increasingly turns up mixed with stimulants such as methamphetamine, which makes both emergency treatment and enforcement trickier, according to the Tennessee Department of Health. The agency’s “Emerging Substances” guidance also flags xylazine and other cutting agents that can complicate overdose response and reversal. Because of fentanyl’s potency and outsized public-health impact, officials say even relatively small on-scene seizures get serious attention.
Charges, booking and what comes next
According to the department’s Facebook post, Tompkins is charged with theft of property valued between $2,500 to $10,000, possession of a Schedule II controlled substance (fentanyl) for resale, possession of a Schedule II controlled substance (methamphetamine), possession of drug paraphernalia, driving under the influence and driving on a suspended license. Police say he was transported to the Sumner County Jail, where booking and case processing fall under the Sumner County Sheriff's Office.
The police statement did not include court dates or case filings. For official updates on the status of the case, records would come from the Sheriff’s Office or the clerk for the 18th Judicial District court.
