Report of ‘Drug Deal’ Leads to Three Arrests in Casper

Three people were arrested in the early hours of Thursday morning after a call about suspicious activity led to their arrests on charges of drug possession and interference.

Tralia Evans, 26, was booked into jail on recommended charges of meth and heroin possession.

Maria Sanchez, 30 was arrested on the same charges, as well as an interference charge.

A man who refused to give his identity to police, and as of Thursday has only been identified as John Doe, was arrested for meth possession, heroin possession and interference.

Charging papers say a Casper police officer was sent to an address on SE Wyoming Boulevard at 1:16 a.m. Thursday for a report of suspicious activity. It was reported that a red Kia Sorento was parked on the south side of the building, and a man and two women were getting in and out of the vehicle, as well as going to different vehicles.

The person who reported the activity didn't see any drugs, but believed a drug deal was taking place due to the behavior they observed.

When the Casper officer arrived, a Natrona County Sheriff's deputy and an Evansville police officer were outside of a parked red Kia with no license plate on the south side of a building. The deputy said the woman sitting in the driver's seat identified herself as "Lona Sanchez," while the man sitting in the rear driver's side identified himself as "Joseph Mitchell." Neither of them had a photo ID.

A second woman, later identified as Evans, was seen by officers exiting the Common Cents. She saw the police vehicles and allegedly quickly turned back into the store and went into the women's restroom.

The names given by Sanchez and "Mitchell" didn't return any results when run through dispatch. Officers interviewed each of them separately.

While an officer spoke with Sanchez, she allegedly tried to conceal a small plastic bag between the driver's seat and center console. Sanchez was ordered out of the vehicle.

"Mitchell" was also ordered out of the Kia, but said the rear door wouldn't open. As he moved toward the front of the vehicle to climb out, he reportedly locked the doors and sad back down in the Kia, where he began to dial his phone.

"After a few tense moments, Mitchell exited the vehicle through the passenger door," the affidavit reads. "Mitchell" was arrested.

Evans later said the Kia belonged to her grandmother and she drove to Casper so that Sanchez could see her son. Evans reportedly said Sanchez's first name was "Maria."

Sanchez allegedly admitted to having lied about her name because she was in the driver's seat and had a suspended license. She told officers she would not say anything about "Mitchell."

Another officer arrived with a drug dog, and the dog reportedly alerted to the presence of drugs inside the Kia.

A search of the vehicle allegedly turned up four plastic pipes, a broken glass pipe, a scale and four pieces of foil. All items appeared to have residue on them, police say.

A Marlboro box in the rear passenger door allegedly contained a plastic bag of suspected meth, a white plastic bag of suspected heroin, and a number of other plastic bags.

Police say a change purse which Sanchez had been holding as she exited the Kia contained a small plastic pipe, a piece of tin foil with residue and a small container with several rolled up plastic bags.

All three were arrested. The suspected meth weighted in at 1.81 grams, and the suspected heroin weighed .72 grams including packaging.