Cynthia Ann Frierson, 36, of 511 E. 11th St., was charged with disrupting funeral or memorial service, public intoxication, driving on revoked/suspended license, immediate notice of accident and unlawful drug paraphernalia.

A Columbia woman was arrested on Monday after she allegedly tried to remove a body from a casket during a funeral service.

Cynthia Ann Frierson, 36, of 511 E. 11th St., was charged with disrupting funeral or memorial service, public intoxication, driving on revoked/suspended license, immediate notice of accident and unlawful drug paraphernalia.

Officers responded to two calls regarding hit and runs of parked vehicles Monday afternoon, according to a Columbia Police Department report.

A red pickup truck, driven by Frierson, allegedly sideswiped vehicles parked in front of houses on South Glade Street and East 10th Street, according to the report.

While police were speaking with the owner of the vehicle in the East 10th Street incident, they received a call from dispatch saying Frierson was causing a disturbance at Roundtree-Napier-Ogilvie Funeral Home.

At the funeral home, located at 126 E. 8th St., officers spoke with a witness, who said “Frierson showed up at the funeral home as they were actively having a funeral and walked up to the open casket.” She allegedly “then began grabbing at the body inside of the casket and at one point attempted to get the body out of the casket,” the report stated.

Funeral attendees were angry and asked Frierson to leave, the witness allegedly told police.

The witness said “Frierson then refused to leave, and approximately six people had to pull her away from the casket and take her outside,” the report stated.

Police then spoke with Frierson, who was outside the funeral home. She allegedly smelled of alcohol and her speech was slurred, according to the report.

Officer Landen Barber wrote in his incident report that he asked Frierson if she drove to the funeral home and she allegedly answered that she did not.

In addition to charges related to the vehicle accidents and public intoxication, Frierson was charged with “disorderly conduct at funerals, due to her grabbing the body inside of the casket, which was offensive to the sensibilities of an ordinary person,” Barber wrote.

En route to the Maury County Jail, police read Frierson her rights and allegedly asked questions about the truck she was driving.

“At one point, she did state that she drove a friend to the store in a red truck and then immediately tried to change the story and say that she wasn’t actually the person driving,” according to the report. “It was her friend, but she could not tell me her friend’s name.”

When officers arrived with Frierson at the jail, Barber wrote, he noticed she was holding a piece of toilet paper and a lighter.

He said he asked her what she had in her hand and she allegedly said “it was just a lighter.”

Barber allegedly attempted to open her hand, but she pulled away. He then escorted her into the booking area, where other officers were present.

Inside booking, he said, he “observed Frierson place the lighter that she had in her hand on the counter and slide the piece of toilet paper back into her right pants pocket.

“While Frierson was speaking with booking staff, I looked into (her) right pocket to see what she had in the toilet paper, and I could see a clear glass pipe inside of the paper, so I grabbed it out of Frierson’s pocket,” Barber wrote.

She was then searched by booking staff. Nothing else illegal was found, according to the report.

“Due to Frierson being in possession of the glass pipe with black residue inside of it that I know to be used to smoke ‘crack’ cocaine, she was charged with possession of unlawful drug paraphernalia,” Barber wrote.

She remained in the Maury County Jail on Tuesday in lieu of a $6,500 bond.

A representative from Roundtree-Napier-Ogilvie told The Daily Herald that funeral home staff is not commenting on the incident on advice from an attorney.