Casper Woman Arrested for Child Endangerment With Methamphetamine
Casper police arrested a woman Saturday after a search of her residence for guns allegedly turned up methamphetamine paraphernalia, including a loaded syringe, in the same home where a two or three-year-old child lived.
Laura A. Kaehn was booked into jail on a charge of child endangering with methamphetamine and two counts of possession of a controlled substance.
According to an affidavit provided by the Casper Police Department, an officer had been assisting Natrona County Sheriff's deputies as they searched for a wanted man, Charles Martin. Evansville police had advised that Martin was possibly in possession of two stolen guns.
Deputies who had been in an undercover vehicle took Martin into custody and a pipe with suspected meth residue was found on his person, but no weapon. A search of his vehicle turned up several loaded magazines, but no weapon.
Martin told officers that the vehicle belonged to a friend and he wanted the keys returned to Kaehn, who lived in the apartment which Martin had just left.
After knocking on the door of the apartment for roughly 15 minutes, Kaehn opened the door. After being informed of the situation involving Martin, she allowed officers to search her apartment for any guns.
Several pieces of paraphernalia were found in the apartment including a loaded syringe containing suspected liquid methamphetamine, a meth bong, a straw presumed to have been used to snort methamphetamine and a suboxone pill.
An officer noted that the child's shoes were right next to the purse where some of the items were found, and the purse would have been easily accessible to the child.
The Wyoming Department of Family Services responded and took protective custody of the child. Kaehn was taken to jail without incident.