Casper Man, Woman Arrested for Endangering Child With Methamphetamine
A man and woman arrested Saturday afternoon following a traffic stop near Mills each face drug possession and child endangerment charges.
Louis Hamilton, 27, and Shawntae Long, 23, are each accused of child endangerment with methamphetamine and possession of methamphetamine. Long also faces a marijuana possession charge.
Casper police responded to the area of West Yellowstone Highway at about 1 p.m. Saturday after officers were told that a man was erratically driving southbound on South Center Street and may have been hitting the passenger.
Officers found the vehicle going about 65 mph and stopped it on West Yellowstone Highway west of Salt Creek Highway.
The driver, Hamilton, was accompanied by Long in the passenger seat and a small child in the back seat.
Hamilton allegedly admitted he was under the influence and told an officer there were drugs in the vehicle, adding that he gave the to Long, though they did belong to him.
Long was crying with her head in her hands. She told officers she and Hamilton had been in a fight, but denied the fight got physical.
Officers found a Crown Royal bag in Long's right coat pocket which contained one used syringe, a metal spoon with white residue on it, a used cotton swab, and two empty jewelers' baggies with a white, crystalline residue inside of them, according to the affidavit.
An officer reportedly recognized all of the items in the bag were things typically used to inject methamphetamine into the blood stream intravenously.
Officers also allegedly found a red straw, called a "tooter," which could be used to snort methamphetamine in Long's purse.
A Department of Family Services representative was called for the child.
Long reportedly told officers during an interview that she and Hamilton had argued because one of their mutual friends had been in an abusive relationship, and Long said she and Hamilton had been in the same room as the alleged batterer.
Hamilton was reportedly angry at Long because she allowed him to stay at the residence with the alleged batterer, knowing Hamilton wanted to fight the man, according to court documents.
Long claimed she didn't know hamilton was using methamphetamine again and was unaware that he had drugs in the vehicle.
When asked about the "tooter" in her purse, Long said she didn't know anything about it and said she had not used methamphetamine since she was 19, the affidavit says.
Hamilton allegedly told police that he used meth earlier that morning and said Long didn't know anything about the drugs in the truck.
He also said he stuffed the Crown Royal bag into Long's pocket, even though he would have had to reach all the way across the truck to do so.
During his interview with police, Hamilton allegedly said he had a small jewelers' baggie of methamphetamine in his sock.
Hamilton told the same story as Long regarding their argument, and also said it had not turned physical, according to the affidavit.
While booking her into the Natrona County Detention Center, a deputy allegedly found a bag of marijuana in Long's bra.