A call to police to check out a parked car at a Rice Lake restaurant with people who were not departing as ordered resulted in the arrest of three out-of-town residents on drug possession charges.
Cassie M. Eder, 32, of Menomonie, was charged with two counts of possession of methamphetamine, one as a repeat offender and one as a party to a crime. On December 2, two new misdemeanour charges of possession of drug paraphernalia were filed in Barron County Circuit Court, one as a repeat offender and one as a participant to a crime.
Richard A. Hovde, 51, of Eau Claire, and Chad D. Turgeson, 41, of Menomonie, have been charged with meth possession and possession of drug paraphernalia as repeat offenders and parties to a crime.
Possession of meth can result in a $10,000 fine and 3½ years in prison, with higher penalties for subsequent offences.
Hovde and Turgeson received $2,000 signature bonds each, while Eder is free on a $1,000 signature bond.
According to the criminal complaint, Rice Lake police responded to a restaurant parking lot on the morning of December 1 to investigate a report of a car and occupants who refused to leave despite being urged to do so.
Police discovered Eder in the passenger seat, who claimed they had been ordered to leave but remained because they had ran out of gas.
Turgeson appeared to be hiding in the back, passenger-side corner of the car. He was instructed to exit, and as officers spoke with him, Hovde arrived on the scene with a can of gasoline and poured it into the tank.
None of the three possessed a valid driver’s license to operate a car in the early hours of December 1. Hovde had an active arrest warrant, and Eder was serving felony probation for meth possession. Turgeson was on parole for various criminal offences, including amphetamine possession.
A K-9 detected the odour of narcotics in the vehicle, and a search discovered drug paraphernalia with residue that tested positive for meth.