Taunton Woman Arrested After Being Seen Using Phone While Driving

TAUNTON (WBSM) — A Taunton woman was arrested and charged with drug crimes and motor vehicle violations earlier this week after a state police trooper allegedly spotted her on her cell phone while driving.

Massachusetts State Police said that on April 22 at 4:15 p.m., a trooper was driving in the Taunton Green rotary when he observed the driver of a Chevy truck using a cell phone while driving.

According to state police, a check of the license plate revealed the truck’s registration was revoked. The trooper then pulled the driver over, and state police said the trooper observed the driver reaching toward various areas of the vehicle’s interior as they were pulling over.

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The driver, Kiana Mendes, 38, of Taunton, was determined to have a suspended driver’s license. She was removed from the vehicle and placed under arrest.

State police said a search of the vehicle turned up “numerous items commonly used in the distribution of illegal narcotics,” leading the trooper to request a K-9 search of the vehicle. That search was said to have discovered “baggies of a substance suspected to be crack cocaine with a combined weight of 64 grams, in addition to numerous pills, cash, and suboxone strips.”

Mendes is charged with trafficking in cocaine; six counts of possession of a Class B substance; operating a motor vehicle with a suspended license; operating a motor vehicle with a suspended registration; operating an uninsured motor vehicle; and using an electronic device while operating a motor vehicle.

Mendes was held in the Ash Street Jail in New Bedford pending arraignment in Taunton District Court. Her bail was set at $5,000.