A New Vienna man was taken to the Highland County Jail on Tuesday morning by the Hillsboro Police Department following a complaint of a suspicious vehicle parked at 122 E. North St. in Hillsboro.

An HPD spokesperson said that James Lunsford, 30, New Vienna, was arrested and transported to the Highland County Justice Center lock-up and was charged with tampering with evidence, a third-degree felony.

Officer Brian Butler of the Hillsboro Police told The Times-Gazette that officers responded to a suspicious vehicle complaint shortly after 9 a.m. Tuesday, calling the situation “two incidents that rolled into one.”

“One is under investigation that involved the car and we also got some information that there was a guy with a warrant inside the house,” Butler said. “Lunsford had some drug paraphernalia in his area and then tried to conceal it from officers.”

Butler speculated that the initial complaint was phoned into police when a neighbor suspected a drug deal, and while officers were investigating the suspicious vehicle complaint, they searched the home for an individual with an outstanding warrant, but the peson was not found.

“We don’t know if he jumped out of a back window or what,” Butler said. “We went to go look for him at the house and that’s when we ran into Mr. Lunsford with the narcotics.”

He said that the investigation is continuing as it relates to the vehicle, and that charges are pending on what he termed “a couple more people.”

Reach Tim Colliver at 937-402-2571.