Tip About Possible Drug Deal Leads to Three Meth, Pot Arrests at Casper Motel
Three people were arrested Monday evening after an anonymous tip about a possible drug deal at a Casper motel led police to discover methamphetamine and marijuana paraphernalia, as well as a small amount of pot.
Katherine Allen, 25, was arrested on charges of meth and marijuana possession. Johnathan Harris, 24, and 23-year-old Sarah Bowden were booked into jail on the same charges.
Charging papers say just before 6:30 p.m. Monday, police received an anonymous tip of a possible drug deal going on inside a certain room of a motel on West F Street. Officers arrived and spoke with the desk clerk, who said the room in question was registered to a Katherine Allen.
The clerk said Allen had been staying there for about a week, with constant incoming phone calls for her room. Allen's rent agreement was set to expire Tuesday, and the occupants were flagged as not being allowed to rent again.
An officer went to the second floor and immediately smelled marijuana, according to the affidavit. As he got closer to the room in question, the smell became stronger.
Allen answered the door when the officer knocked, and reportedly allowed the officer into the room.
Harris was crouching down in a chair and Bowden was laying on the bed, reportedly unresponsive. Paramedics arrived to check on the woman, whom Allen said was just sleeping, but would slip in an out of consciousness while speaking with officers.
When asked about the smell of marijuana, Harris pulled a marijuana pipe out from under the bed. He said he knew of no other drugs or paraphernalia in the room, as he had just arrived. He also said he had been clean of methamphetamine for about two years.
Allen told an officer the room was registered to her and said she didn't think any other drugs or paraphernalia were in the room. She gave police permission to use a drug dog to search the room.
The dog indicated on a blue bag on the floor next to the bed. The bag allegedly contained Bowden's identification, a small black safe and a notebook. Inside the safe, police allegedly found just over half a gram of marijuana, a marijuana pipe and a meth pipe as well as a digital scale.
The drug dog also indicated on a camouflage backpack which contained three suspected methamphetamine kits. Each of the kits was composed of dirty baggies, dirty syringes and scales.
Also inside the backpack was a "tooter" straw -- often used to snort methamphetamine -- a cellophane wrapper containing unknown pills and packaging material.
In a pink, heart-shaped tin on the nightstand, police allegedly found another dirty syringe, rolling papers and a handwritten card with Allen's name on it.
All three suspects denied any ownership of the drugs and paraphernalia. They were all arrested.
In searching the three of them, police allegedly found a marijuana "socket" pipe in Allen's right front pocket, as well as two baggies containing suspected meth residue, another "tooter" straw, and a baggie containing amphetamine and dextroamphetamine prescription pills in Harris' right front pocket.