Crime & Safety
PD: Female Felon Swallowed Bag of Crack During Strip Search
Middletown Police say a 32-year-old with a long record of convictions injured officers and a canine when apprehended outside the apartment of known cocaine traffickers in the city's North End.
A convicted felon suspected of swallowed a bag of crack cocaine during a strip search is facing charges including assault of an officer and cruelty to animals after she vehemently fought arrest, according to Middletown Police.
On Oct. 12 at 7:13 p.m., police narcotics units were canvassing the North End and saw a Chevrolet Malibu stop in front of 24 Liberty Street, known to them, the report says, as an apartment in which a female resident allows cocaine trafficking in exchange for crack. On June 13, the report says, she admitted so to police.
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Jowanna A. Stevenson, 32, of no certain address, was driving, the report says, who had to be asked several times to roll down her window, was found with a license suspended since June 2010. She refused to exit the car and became verbally combative, the report indicates.
Stevenson kept reaching into her pants near her rear end, so police had to grapple with her to handcuff her. A police canine was employed and Stevenson, police say, flailed around and kicked the dog then hit police with her handcuffs. A search revealed what officers suspected to be a bag of narcotics in her "left buttocks area," the report says and a constantly ringing iPhone.
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Back at headquarters, a female officer conducted a strip search for the cocaine and "Stevenson then removed an item from her underwear suspected to be crack cocaine with her left hand and immediately placed it in her mouth in an attempt to swallow it," the report says. Officers were unsuccesful in getting and the report says Stevenson swallowed the item.
Stevenson is a felon, according to the state of Connecticut Judicial Department website, with convictions for second- and third-degree assault, possession and sale of narcotics, operating under suspension, DUI, interfering with police, first-degree larceny, failure to appear and probation violation stemming from June 2004 to April 2010.
She was charged with cruelty to animals, operation of a motor vehicle when license is suspended, interfering with an officer, assault of a public safety officer, and destruction of property.
She is in police custody until her Oct. 26 court appearance.
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