By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – A 40-year-old Onalaska woman handed over a baggie of suspected heroin to a deputy last night after calling Lewis County dispatch and telling them she wanted to get clean and get into rehab, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.
A deputy responding to the 100 block of Third Street in Onalaska following the approximately 11:20 p.m. call field tested the brown powdery substance, arrested Elizabeth A. Fiedler for a violation of the Uniform Controlled Substances Act and booked her into the Lewis County Jail, sheriff’s Chief Deputy Dusty Breen said this morning.
A possible charge of possession of drug paraphernalia is being referred to prosecutors.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
While I agree it is lame that she got arrested I would have to place the blame on her rather than the deputy. There are other ways to get into treatment. Help is available. I’d like to know if she consulted any of her other friends that use before doing this because somebody would’ve had to have spoken up and said that was a horrible way of going about getting treatment. For one thing, for the rest of her life it will be known that she was once arrested for felony heroin possession. That will stay with her forever. Even if she doesn’t end up being convicted it will always be on record available to many. Plus she delayed the time it will take to get her into treatment because she’ll probably sit in jail a minute before she can go (depending on her criminal history). Bottom line is that it just was a plan that wasn’t very well thought through.
Now the hard part…defending the deputy. The bottom line is that she was committing a felony by possessing those drugs and letting the cop witness it. Say he let her go. Then in the future if somebody has stuff on them and knows that they are in a situation with no way out and the cops are approaching all one would have to do is pull their dope out and hand it to the cops and claim they need help and that they shouldn’t be arrested. You’d have everybody doing that. So had the officer not arrested her he would be setting a precedent that everybody possessing drugs are actually people seeking help rather than “criminals.” Which personally I don’t think possessing a drug makes one a true criminal at all. I don’t think it is anybody’s business what people do unless they directly harm somebody else, but that is a whole different argument with a lot of critics.
After re-reading the article I think the appropriate thing to do would have been to have dispatch send a counselor or something out there the next day and work with her to find the proper help for her and they could dispose of the drugs as well. At least the officer only charged her with paraphernalia rather than possession which I don’t believe is a felony so I redact my earlier comment about it being a felony, etc.
Anyways, I wish the best for her.
That’s because a deputy does not have the power of arrest over his own sheriff. That takes another agency, city, state, fed, county coroner, ect.
They did not have to arrest her. Cops make the determination not to arrest all the time. Like when the last Sheriff was harboring a runaway, and the responding deputy chose not to arrest him
@Nurse. We obviously have a huge pot problem here. That being said i need to tell you that the kettle already knows its black, so let it be understood to you as it is to the rest of us that the reason a poacher would make an excellent game warden is the same reason we already know you can point out people who speak of things they know about without concern for actual fact finding. The same could be said for pointing out a person with incorrect presumptions as opposed to knowledge. You spent so much time pointing out the flaws in others from your pulpit as nurse about leo’s do and do not do, you missed a few things. Not thr first
No dash cameras, no body cameras, no common sense. I remember the days when I was caught drinking and driving and the cop made me pour it out and walk home. End the drug war, legalize , regulate, and educate. The problem is the cops couldn’t justify theur numbers if drugs were legalized and alcohol will be seen as a worse drug than Herion or cocaine. Most incidents of violence are alcohol related. Take it to trial and get a real lawyer instead of sell outslike Don Blair. It’s called jury Nullification folks.. Use out power to control the courts all the tools are in place to over throw the law except people are overwhelmed buy the Kangaroo Courts.o
Go figures. She wants help so stack up a bunch of fines she has to pay and give her a record that will surely help her get a job in the long run. Pathetic at its best is what it is. GO LCSO
For all those who want to excoriate the LCSO, please understand that the deputy cannot just give a warning regarding a felony, and that drug possession is not an “intent” crime, but instead, a mere possession crime.
Having said, that, being arrested might be what she wanted, to get away from here environment. Whether or not she is prosecuted is up to J. Meyer, so if you feel strongly about this, write the public official a letter. He can dismiss if he feels it is in the interest of justice.
it’s good she asked for help – but to get arrested?? that just doesn’t seem right…
For all of you who open and run your mouths based on minimal facts you wear your ignorance like a tattoo on your forehead. How do you know she DIDN’T go to the hospital before going to jail? You don’t, you just assumed.
Lewis County doesn’t have an inpatient drug rehab program. So, to get this woman or anybody the help they need there is a process! All law enforcement and our county jail have a process by which they MUST follow! The part YOU don’t know because you don’t work in that field is where, in certain situations, law brings people into the hospital to be assessed and treated by a medical professional before being released to jail. This isn’t necessarily the case for all drug arrests but any situation where withdrawal from a drug could be For a person to get help, the process includes going through the legal system. So LCSO did their job and they did it well to jump start getting help for this person. They gave this woman far more of a chance for recovery then any of you chirping your biased opinions.
The part you all don’t see is how gentle and kind law enforcement is to these individuals who come for medical care. This is something I personally witness nearly every day. So, my point is having all the facts can make a big difference. If you’d like to put your money where your mouth is please start focusing your concern to ways Lewis County can fund and set up drug/alcohol rehab!
Maybe she asked them to arrest her. Maybe that is the only way she feels she can do this. Maybe she has tried going to the hospital and has been turned away. It’s obvious she was desperate for help if she was calling the sheriff, so I believe she could have been desperate enough to say lock me up. I’m not saying this is the case but it could be, maybe we should consider that before jumping down LCSO.
The Sheriff is NOT the bad guy here. They will get her the help she needs to be successful.
This is wrong just saying maybe that’s why many do not trust the law, she sure did not get help , she will go right back as this tells her no one is going to help her, or cares
WOW WOW WOW!!! WTF is wrong with the LCSO Deputy that responded to that call?? That is the biggest bunch of hog S**t I have ever heard!! The woman CALLED FOR HELP TO END HER DRUG ADDICTION AND GET CLEAN! Now she is in jail getting sicker that Hell I would imagine when she just could have gone to the hospital and asked for help with detox and wouldn’t be facing a felony charge and be in sheer agony right now!! SMOOTH MOVE LCSO!! You guys SUCK on this one!! I hope KARMA bites that deputy right in the schnozzle! What a TOTAL blow to the attempt to help end the drug war and get addicts clean!! I can not believe that a woman asks for help and now faces a felony for doing the right thing… FOAD!
I do not understand she ask for help..They take her to jail .Time for changes there has to be a better way.Getting clean was the hardest thing I HAVE EVER DONE.Glad I never asked a cop for help..
That its so wrong someone asking for help
lol isn’t she protected under the OD law? She had enough and wanted help what the hell? What’s the big deal? Jail vs rehab? She clearly needed/wanted rehab. What it doesn’t say is how they entrapped and Cororced her in to producing her addiction to get a drug charge on her. I think we neee to change how we view and handle addictions and wage this so called drug war in this county and all over this great land if we want to emerge as winners from this scourge.