Local man faces drug charge after pursuit

From Staff Reports

   A Hampton man arrested Sunday by Elizabethton Police has been charged with conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia following a vehicle pursuit Monday.
   According to Ptl. Jack Ramsey, Nathaniel B. Rainbolt, 22, 312 Simerly Creek Road, was observed around 11:35 p.m. Sunday driving a red car and following a white car the wrong way on the Covered Bridge. Both were traveling at a high rate of speed.
   Ptl. Richard Haney stopped the white car while Ptl. Ramsey attempted to catch the red car. When the officer activated his vehicle's lights and siren, the red car accelerated and turned onto Broad Street.
   Ptl. Ramsey located a red Camaro at Maupin's Exxon and made contact with the driver, who denied having gone through the Covered Bridge. At that moment, the officer again saw the red car and again tried to overtake it, traveling at speeds in excess of 60 mph. The vehicle turned onto Race Street and left the roadway on a sharp curve. Rainbolt was taken into custody and charged with failure to obey a traffic control device, reckless driving and felony evading arrest.
   A juvenile passenger in Rainbolt's vehicle told the officer that Rainbolt had followed the white car through the bridge and, as the officer picked up pursuit, Rainbolt asked her, "Is he after us?"
   Ptl. Haney joined Ramsey at the scene and advised him that the driver of the white car was Rainbolt's ex-girlfriend, Nerissa Lowe, 20, 412 Field Road. Lowe told the officer that Rainbolt had been following her and had blocked her vehicle in at a parking lot. At the time Ptl. Ramsey saw the two cars go through the Covered Bridge, Lowe was fleeing for her life and was on a cell phone calling 911 for help. Rainbolt additionally was charged with aggravated assault under domestic violence.
   While inventorying Rainbolt's vehicle, Ptl. Haney found more than 2,000 antihistamine tablets in blister packs in the trunk. A member of the Drug Enforcement Agency was contacted on suspicion that the tablets might indicate methamphetamine production.
   By the time the DEA agent arrived at the scene at midnight, officers also had found several other items believed linked to the production of meth, including a propane fuel canister with blow torch adapter, an aluminum foil wrapper with burned residue, and numerous small plastic bags consistent with meth distribution.
   Rainbolt told the agent that the antihistamine tablets belonged to a friend whose brother had been arrested in Arkansas, allegedly for methamphetamine. Rainbolt, who told officers he had used meth in the past, was found to have $616 cash in his possession. The money and vehicle were seized.
   Rainbolt was set a $40,000 bond which was reduced to $10,000 corporate bond Monday in General Sessions Court. His case was continued to May 28.