Dresden officer accused of tampering with evidence, faces charges

DRESDEN, Tenn. — A Dresden police officer is being charged, and one of the charges includes tampering with evidence.

Courtesy: Weakley County Sheriff Department

This stems from an investigation earlier this month by the Weakley County Sheriff’s Department.

In a news release from the Weakley County Sheriff’s Department, late in the evening of October 28th, 2023 Dresden police officer Lane Vargus conducted a traffic stop on Highway 22 in Dresden for a vehicle that was speeding.

During this stop, Vargus recovered 2 grams of marijuana from the passenger in the vehicle.

However, according to the release, he did not enter this marijuana into evidence to the Dresden Police department.

Also a citation that was issued during the traffic stop wasn’t submitted to Weakley County General Sessions Court.

Lieutenant Kerry Workman of the Weakley County Sheriff’s Department reviewed Vargus’ body cam footage from the traffic stop and also searched for the citation, which was discovered in Vargus’ cabinet at the police department, according to the release.

Workman asked Vargus where the marijuana was from the traffic stop.

According to the release, Vargus shared that he got rid of the evidence, but didn’t remember how he did it.

Vargus also told Workman he failed to turn in the citation to the General Sessions Court because he made a mistake when filling it out, according to the release.

However, Workman noticed the citation was filed out correctly with a court date and a signature of the defendant from the traffic stop, however, the defendant’s address was missing from the citation, the release states.

Officer Vargus was taken into custody earlier today and is being charged with tampering with evidence and simple possession of marijuana.

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