Bartlett dentist arrested on numerous charges
A Bartlett dentist was arrested in a damaged car in a Cordova McDonald’s parking lot Monday. Her 5-year-old son was in the vehicle with her.
Michelle Ward, 41, has been charged with identity theft, public intoxication, reckless endangerment, possessing drugs without a prescription, obtaining drugs fraudulently and taking drugs into a penal facility. She remained jailed Tuesday morning on $4,500 bond.
Ward, who police said was slurring her words, told officers she was a dentist at “Mary Family Dentistry.” According to an Internet search, she works at the American Family Dentistry group’s Bartlett office.
According to her bio, the Bartlett native graduated from Rhodes College in 1994 and the University of Tennessee School of Dentistry in 1998.
The incident began about 2:20 p.m. at the McDonald’s at 1206 N. Houston Levee. A witness told police that Ward was slurring her speech and shaking in her Volkswagen Jetta, which was damaged. According to the affidavit, Ward said she ran into the curb at McDonald’s. Police noticed that her son was in the back of the car, unin- jured.
According to the affidavit, Ward then told police that she took three drugs earlier, including a muscle relaxer and some pills that Ward said she prescribed for herself under another name.
When police searched her at Jail East, they found a bag containing 33 more pills, hidden in her bra.