Woman tries to whip up explanation for CO2 containers in car

She claimed at first to be a chemist.

Cocke County Sheriff Lt. Joshua Boyce observed a vehicle while patrolling WB I-40 on May 23 between mile markers and 435 and 432 that was acting erratically.

In his incident report he states the car, driven by Annette Kuntz, 61, of Cincinnati, Ohio, abruptly changed lanes into the slow lane cutting off a semi, hitting the brakes and closing the distance between her vehicle and the semi. After Boyce pulled behind her vehicle, she was noted to be weaving back and forth in her lane of travel.

A traffic stop was initiated before Exit 432A and she stated, per the report, that she just came through the mountains and was still a little nervous. She was told to move her vehicle to West 25/70 due to high traffic volume on I-40. While driving down the ramp, Boyce states in his report he noticed her digging around the passenger seat area.

Kuntz was asked if there was anything illegal in the car and she stated no. She denied permission to search but when told there was reasonable suspicion and a K9 was en route, she then gave verbal consent to search.

During the search, Boyce states he found multiple, empty Whip It CO2 cans in the passenger seat where he observed Kuntz digging around. Also located were two Mason jars of of suspected marijuana. When asked about the Whip It CO2 containers, she reportedly stated she mixes them with other chemicals and cutting agents because she is working on a project and is a chemist.

However, per the report, when asked if she has been using the Whip It today, she stated no, but the last time she huffed them was a week ago.

She then is reported to have performed poorly on standardized field sobriety tests and was placed into custody for driving under the influence of drugs and simple possession of schedule IV narcotics.

She refused to provide a blood or breath sample and was transported to the Cocke County Jail Annex without further incident.