Three Arrested for Child Endangerment, Meth, Marijuana
Three people were arrested Tuesday after a probation and parole check led authorities to find methamphetamine and marijuana paraphernalia inside a residence where children were present.
Jake A. Perea and Ashley J. Hodges were each booked into jail on two recommended counts of child endangerment with methamphetamine. Hodges was also booked on a hold for probation and parole.
Sandra S. Whitney was booked on recommended charges of methamphetamine possession, possession of marijuana and two counts of child endangerment with methamphetamine.
According to an affidavit of probable cause, two Casper police officers were asked to assist probation and parole agents on Tuesday night in checking on two people who had not been reporting as required. Officers received information that Hodges had been staying at 229 Lathrop Rd.
Upon arriving, an officer spoke with a woman who had been let Hodges and her boyfriend, Perea, stay with her, but she told police that she had kicked them out earlier that day. The woman said the pair was probably staying down the street with Whitney.
Officers knocked on the door of Whitney's residence and could reportedly hear children crying inside. Hodges eventually answered the door and was informed that she would be going to jail on a hold for probation and parole.
While Hodges was putting her shoes on, an officer saw an orange marijuana pipe in plain view on a nightstand in the living room. Whitney claimed the pipe was hers and was used to smoke marijuana.
A search of the residence turned up another marijuana pipe, a light bulb which had been fashioned into a meth pipe, a number of jeweler's bags containing meth residue, multiple syringes, straws used to snort meth and other drug paraphernalia.
Police noted that all the drug paraphernalia was located in places where the items were easily accessible to two children who were inside the home. The children were taken into protective custody before being released to another adult.
Hodges and Perea maintained that they had not used meth, but Hodges allegedly admitted that she had recently smoked marijuana and huffed dust-off within the past hour. They said that they knew Whitney to be using methamphetamine.
Whitney said all of the drug paraphernalia belonged to her and her boyfriend, who was not home at the time. The three adults were arrested and taken to jail. The paraphernalia was field tested.