By Shavonne Walker

shavonne.walker@salisburypost.com

SALISBURY — A man and woman were charged with drug offenses Friday night after someone reported that the woman appeared intoxicated at a Salisbury shopping center.

A patrol officer noted that the woman and the driver of the car she got into both appeared under the influence.

The Salisbury Police Department charged Lisa Celeste Linkins Parker, 34, of the 300 block of Carolina Boulevard, with two counts of misdemeanor simple possession of a controlled substance. She also had an outstanding 2016 warrant on a charge of driving while license revoked (not impaired).

Parker remains in the Rowan County Detention Center under a $1,300 secured bond.

Nathan Randall Barger, 37, of the 1000 block of Deal Street, Faith, was charged with two counts of felony possession with intent to manufacture a controlled substance; two counts of felony possession of a controlled substance; two counts of felony maintaining a dwelling or vehicle for trafficking in a controlled substance; two counts of misdemeanor simple possession of a controlled substance; and one count of misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia.

Barger remains in the Rowan County Detention Center under a $35,000 secured bond.

A patrol officer received a report that a woman walking near Great Clips at the Innes Street Market shopping center appeared to be impaired. She was seen getting into a gold Saturn. When officers approached the car, they said, the man in the driver’s seat appeared under the influence, as well.

The officer questioned the driver, identified as Barger, and then had a police dog sniff the vehicle. The dog alerted officers that drugs were present. A search of the vehicle turned up a number of items inside a pill bottle with no label on it. The officers seized 3 grams of methamphetamine and an 8-milligram dose of buprenorphine hydrochloride, a medication used to treat addiction to narcotics.

In addition, the officer confiscated acetaminophen and hydrochloride bitartrate, Tramadol, Carisoprodol (a muscle relaxant), several hypodermic needles, and scales.

Parker was convicted in December 2014 on a charge of punching a 7-year-old boy at a school bus stop after a group of children was arguing, according to a police report at the time. She was convicted in October 2013 on charges of misdemeanor larceny and simple assault in three separate incidents. She was convicted in March 2010 of misdemeanor larceny. She has also been convicted of misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia. 

Barger has a 1999 misdemeanor conviction.