Kidnapping Charges Dropped In Informant Case

Kidnapping charges have been dismissed against three Twin Falls residents who had been accused of abducting a one-time narcotics informant and forcibly injecting her with methamphetamine.

A first-degree kidnapping charge against 33-year-old Ben Hathaway was dropped Wednesday because of a lack of evidence, and two women agreed to plead guilty to lesser charges, Jerome County Deputy Prosecutor John Meienhofer said.

Cheryl McRoberts, 32, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor battery and Patricia Miller, 18, pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting a battery, Meienhofer said.

He said authorities only had evidence that Hathaway was at a Twin Falls home when the informant, a Jerome woman, was taken to the home on Sept. 17 by McRoberts and Miller, then held down and injected with the drug known as “crank.”

The woman was hospitalized overnight after being dumped at her grandmother’s house clad only in a blanket.