Couple charged after police allegedly find them with explosive device, drugs
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POCATELLO — A couple police say was found in possession of an apparent explosive device and “a small amount of drugs” faces multiple felony charges.
Chelsie Ann Hill, 39, and Brian Charles Fremont, 38, each face one count of possession of a controlled substance and unlawful possession of bombs or destructive devices, court records show.
While on patrol around 11:30 p.m. Jan. 6, a Pocatello police officer stopped a vehicle on East Oak Street. According to an affidavit of probable cause, the stop was initiated after the officer ran a Utah dealership license plate displayed on the vehicle, and it did not return.
Officers spoke with the driver, Hill, who said she did not have registration or insurance for the vehicle.
Hill complied with the officers’ request to step out of the vehicle but would not provide consent to search the car. Both Hill and the passenger, Fremont, were asked to step away from the vehicle so a narcotic K9 could perform an open-air sniff around the vehicle.
The K9 indicated the pressence of drugs near the rear, passenger-side door.
Based on the indication from the dog, officers conducted a probable cause search of the vehicle. During their search, officers allegedly found white powdery crystalline substances they identified as methamphetamine inside the vehicle’s center console.
The substance was tested and returned a presumptive positive for methamphetamine.
As they continued their search, officers found a prescription bottle with a fuse coming out of the top and a black powdery substance on the outside.
Officers asked Hill and Fremont what the item was. Both said they had no knowledge of the any illegal items inside the vehicle, the affidavit says.
The officers requested assistance from the Idaho Falls Police Bomb Squad in disposing of the device — described as an orange pill bottle, filled with gray powder and sealed with a white cap with a protruding canon fuse.
On the advice of the bomb squad lieutenant, officers emptied the contents of the pill bottle, removed the fuse and secured the bottle as evidence.
Both Hill and Fremont were taken to Bannock County Jail, where they were booked and are being held.
Though Hill and Fremont have been charged with these crimes, it does not necessarily mean they committed them. Everyone is presumed innocent until they are proven guilty.
If they are found guilty, both could face up to 12 years in prison.
Both are scheduled to appear in court for a preliminary hearing before Magistrate Judge Carol Tippi Jarman on Jan. 22.