By Ryan Lewallen, County 17
Two hotel guests were arrested Monday morning at the Days Inn after methamphetamine was found in a room where young children resided, Gillette Police Lt. Brent Wasson said Tuesday.
Police had been dispatched to the hotel shortly after 11 a.m., March 29, amid reports from hotel staff that several hotel guests were acting strangely in a first-floor room.
Staff requested police deploy a K9 on the door to the room. The K9 did not indicate, but officers knocked anyway and contacted a 50-year-old male and a 49-year-old female with two small children, who were not identified.
Officers were granted consent to search the room by the 50-year-old male.
The female requested to go to the bathroom after the K9 indicated on a fishing tacklebox, according to Wasson, and attempted to take a coffee mug with her, but it was confiscated by officers who located approximately 1.5 grams of suspected meth inside.
Both adults were arrested and charged with possession of a controlled substance and felony drug endangered child. The two children were taken and transferred into the custody of the Department of Family Services.
While police were on scene, the K9 indicated on another door down the hallway rented to a 30-year-old male, who was contacted and gave his consent for officers to search the room.
In the male’s room, police seized approximately nine grams of marijuana. He was cited for possession, Wasson said.
The events at the Days Inn follow a similar call to the National 9 Motel on Highway 14-16, where police were asked by staff to conduct a sweep of the hallway with a K9.
The K9 indicated on the door to a room occupied by two males, 33 and 29, and two females, 28 and 36. No controlled substances were found and no citations were issued, though police did find marijuana and meth paraphernalia, per Wasson.
