A Cedartown woman who officers had stopped to investigate at a Rockmart Highway address for trespassing was jailed on drug charges, according to a Polk County Police report.

Police were called out Saturday evening, September 25, 2021, just after 5:15 p.m. to a Rockmart Highway address in reference to trespassing, and found Mary Frances Whatley, 45, claiming to be of that address, there by herself and claiming to be waiting for another man who went into the residence.

During the incident, the owner of the property arrived and provided police with proof of his ownership of the residence and that he had told Whatley and another man involved but not ever located identified as Steven Purser Jr., to leave and never return on multiple occasions.

Because officers hadn’t yet located Purser, they detained Whatley for their safety and cleared the Rockmart Highway residence, finding no one there.

The woman told police that she had arrived at the property “as she did daily with her partner Steven Purser Jr.” and that he had fled from the vehicle upset at being unable to work that day.

He went into the abandoned building at the Rockmart Highway address, but she had stayed behind in the car. When officers asked why Whatley and Purser were trespassing, they reported that “she became agitated and stated that this was not (address redacted) Rockmart Highway and that she did not see a no trespassing sign.”

When asked how long prior to officers arriving on the scene it had been since she last saw Purser, she said around 10 minutes. She further told officers he might have gone to the store, or be at a neighbor’s residence by the time officers were questioning her.

A passing cyclist who matched the description of clothing provided by Whatley for Purser was stopped and found not to be the man officers were looking for.

Police did find Purser’s wallet in the vehicle, along with two glass pipes which had suspected methamphetamine residue within them.

After finding the pipes, police went back to Whatley to question her further, and she agreed to sign a witness statement filled out by police based on an audio recording she made after telling officers she was unable to read or write.

Police reported that Whatley had nothing further to say about the pipes found in her car, and she was taken to the Polk County Jail without further incident.

Whatley remained in custody as of this posting on a $7,000 bond. She was booked on two felony counts of possession of methamphetamine, and misdemeanor charges of possession and use of drug-related objects and criminal trespass.

Police were unable to locate Purser.