Police find drugs and two small children
When police responded to a domestic dispute Tuesday afternoon they found an angry couple, drug paraphernalia, illegal pills, about a pound of marijuana and, most concerning of all, two small children.
Officers removed the two children from the apartment on the west side of town and released them to the custody of relatives. The couple were arrested and later released pending formal charges. The array of drugs and related items were taken into evidence.
Now the couple face a mixture of felony and misdemeanor charges. Chief of Police Rick Baker indicated the department would be seeking counts of felony possession/distribution of marijuana over 35 grams, felony possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child against the 23-year-old male and 26-year-old female.
The situation came to light when officers were sent to the apartment at about 7:50 p.m. Tuesday for a verbal domestic dispute. When the first officers arrived they spoke with a man who said the woman living at the apartment was not at home at the time. The officers asked to look through the apartment to assure she was not home and possibly injured. The man agreed to let the police take a look.
Once inside, they didn’t locate the woman, but they did find something else of interest. They saw drug paraphernalia in plain view.
The officers then changed their question to whether or not the man would allow them to search the apartment for illegal drugs. He consented, and they quickly found assorted controlled substances (pills) not in the correct containers in possession of the owner, more drug equipment and what appeared to be nearly a pound of marijuana divided up for what appeared to be resale amounts.
During the search, the female, who had earlier been involved in the domestic dispute, returned to the scene. Both adults were arrested.
Baker said the two children were released to family members. Formal charges could be filed within the next week.
