NASHUA – When police went to a local motel shortly after midnight Wednesday looking to arrest a Manchester woman on three outstanding warrants, they knocked on her door but got no response, according to police reports.

But moments later, when they turned toward a stairway, the woman they had identified as their suspect was coming up the stairs in their direction.

The officers, members of the department’s Problem Oriented Policing (POP) Unit, promptly took Shannon McKinney, a 36-year-old Manchester resident with no fixed address, into custody without incident, they said in their reports.

But there was more: According to police, McKinney allegedly told the officers “she may have narcotics and/or cash” on her,” and by the time she had been booked and strip-searched at police headquarters, police had allegedly located about 140 grams of heroin, four grams of crack cocaine, and a quantity of methamphetamine, police said.

McKinney allegedly told police she sells drugs to support her own habit, but one of the officers noted in his report that the quantity of drugs they allegedly found on her “is an extremely uncommon” user amount.

In addition to serving the arrest warrants, police charged McKinney with one count each of possession of heroin/fentanyl with intent to distribute, subsequent offense; possession of crack cocaine with intent to distribute, subsequent offense; and possession of methamphetamine, subsequent offense. All are felonies.

During Wednesday’s bail hearing, Assistant County Attorney Brett Harpster recommended McKinney be held on preventive detention, noting the three outstanding warrants, one issued out of Hillsborough County-North and two out of Rockingham County, along with a criminal record that includes several failures to appear in court charges.

Harpster said McKinney allegedly told police she had gone to Lawrence, Massachusetts, on Tuesday, where she allegedly purchased the drugs.

The public defender representing McKinney asked Judge Jacalyn Colburn to set cash bail, noting that McKinney had been sober for nine years, but began using again after getting into an abusive relationship that, she said, included being shot in the head.

In agreeing with Harpster on preventive detention, Colburn told McKinney she “appreciates that you’ve been a member of the recovery community,” but “the sheer volume of drugs” she was charged with possessing, and her multiple failure to appear allegations, indicate preventive detention is appropriate.

Dean Shalhoup may be reached at 594-1256, or at dshalhoup@nashuatelegraph.com.