A pit bull allegedly bit a Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office deputy’s leg while he was trying to arrest a House Springs woman following a traffic stop outside a home on Birch Drive in Imperial. The woman allegedly ran into the house and asked another woman to hide methamphetamine, court records show.
Tiffany Ann Tippen, 42, has been charged with possession of a controlled substance, a class D felony; resisting arrest, a class A misdemeanor; second or third offense of driving with a revoked license, a class A misdemeanor; and driving while intoxicated, a class B misdemeanor, according to court documents.
She was arrested on Oct. 15, and as of Oct. 16, she was being held on a $5,000 bond at the Jefferson County Jail in Hillsboro, court records said.
The Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office has charged Tippen as a prior and persistent drug offender due to being convicted of at least two prior drug offenses. That means the possession charge has been elevated to a class B felony, which is punishable by five to 15 years in prison.
Class A misdemeanors are punishable by up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $2,000, and class B misdemeanors carry penalties of up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $1,000.
According to the case’s probable-cause statement, Tippen on Dec. 11, 2024, was driving a Pontiac Grand Am east on Birch Drive when a deputy saw her veer into the opposite lane. The deputy turned on his cruiser’s emergency lights to stop Tippen, who pulled into the driveway of a home in the 3900 block Birch Drive.
Tippen got out of the car with a pit bull and asked if she could let the dog into the home. The deputy allowed her to secure the dog in the house, but Tippen refused to leave the front porch to talk with the deputy after the dog was inside, the report said.
Tippen also allegedly told the deputy she did not have identification, and when she was told she was being detained, she ran into the home. The deputy told Tippen she was under arrest and followed her into the home, according to the report.
Tippen ran to a bedroom, and the deputy allegedly saw her throw something into the room. When the deputy grabbed Tippen’s arms, the pit bull bit him, the report said.
Tippen then grabbed the dog and put it into a different room. She was then arrested, according to the report.
The deputy learned Tippen was wanted on warrants for felony drug possession and that her driver’s license was revoked, the report said.
The deputy then allegedly found a bag in the room that had a rock-like substance and two glass pipes inside it. A woman who was in the room told the deputy that Tippen had thrown the bag to her and told her to hide it, according to the report.
A Sheriff’s Office dog was called to the home, and the dog indicated there was illegal drugs in the car. Before searching the car, Tippen said, “There’s a baggie in a cigarette pack in my purse,” the report said.
A deputy found a bag with a powdery substance in a cigarette pack in Tippen’s purse, according to the report.
Tippen also told another deputy that she had smoked meth and marijuana before the traffic stop, the report said.
A Missouri State Highway Patrol report filed on April 11 said the substances found in the home and car tested positive for meth.
Court records said Tippen was found guilty in March 2011 of felony possession of a chemical with the intent to create a controlled substance in Jefferson County, and she was found guilty in July 2022 of possession of a controlled substance in Wayne County.