The Mendocino Sheriff’s Department has announced a few recent drug arrests of three people all caught in their vehicles.
On Monday, October 13, a patrol deputy was on duty in the town of Covelo, a small community in inland Mendocino County of about 1200 people, in the valley between the coastal ranges and the Mendocino National Forest. The deputy spotted a car with invalid registration tags and conducted a traffic stop along Highway 162 at 5:19 pm. The woman driving, 34-year-old Angela Frease of the north part of Covelo, did not have a valid driver’s license either.
A search of her car revealed a bag filled with smaller clear plastic bags, each containing a white crystal substance, which appeared to be methamphetamine. There was a total of 26 grams, which was with a digital scale and several smaller unused plastic bags, indicating an intent to sell the narcotics. Frease was arrested for possession of meth, possession for sale, and transportation of meth. She was booked into Mendocino County Jail on $35,000 bail.
Boomers Saloon on Highway 101 in Laytonville.
The next evening, deputies were dispatched to the area of Boomer’s Saloon in Laytonville, another small town of about 1200 people along Highway 101. Someone had called in a report of an intoxicated man causing a disturbance. Deputies arrived to find a man passed out in his vehicle, with the engine running and lights on. They woke up the man, and he said his name was Craig Matthew Coelho. That name, however, is apparently that of his brother, a military man with no record or active warrants out on him. The deputies soon discovered they actually had Anthony B. Coelho, 31, from Merlin Oregon. He had two active warrants from Oregon, and two from Stanislaus County, California, all for drug offenses. He had also been arrested in 2007 on charges of grand theft in addition to narcotics possession.
Further investigation of Coelho and his vehicle revealed numerous hypodermic syringes and 53 grams of heroin – a “commercial quantity” – under the driver’s seat. He was arrested and charged with possession of a controlled substance and paraphernalia, false impersonation, and his outstanding warrants. Total bail was set at $150,000.
Then on Saturday morning, October 18 at 6:30 am, a patrol deputy in Redwood Valley, another small town along Highway 101, caught a motorist speeding on the freeway near the Reeves Canyon Road turnoff. The deputy stopped the driver of the silver Mercedes Benz, and spoke to 58-year-old Freddie Drummond, of Willits, about 13 miles north of the location.The deputy immediately smelled the odor of burnt marijuana in Drummond’s car, and conducted a further search of the vehicle. 6.7 grams of marijuana and 1.9 grams of cocaine were found, and Drummond was arrested for transportation of a controlled substance. He was booked at the Mendocino County Jail with bail set at $35,000.
