18 ounces of meth seized in traffic stop
Sheriff's deputies seized 18 ounces of methamphetamine in a traffic stop near the Northern Quest Casino parking lot early Tuesday.
A 41-year-old Ritzville man was arrested along with a 19-year-old woman who was with him in his Mazda 626. A deputy monitoring the casino parking lot stopped the Mazda after learning its owner had a suspended license.
The owner wasn't in the car, but driver David B. Hill was arrested after the deputy learned his license was suspended, too, according to the Spokane County Sheriff's Office.
Deputies found a small bag of meth in Hill's pocket along with more than $1,600. In the Mazda were about 18 ounces of methamphetamine, a .380-caliber semi-automatic pistol and more than $15,000 in cash, according to the Sheriff's Office.
Passenger Tara Leena Rader of Spangle was arrested on a misdemeanor warrant and is due in Spokane County Superior Court today on one count of felony possession of a controlled substance. Hill is out of jail on bond.
Rader was featured in several Spokesman-Review stories in 2004 after she was shot in the face at close range by her then-boyfriend, Reza Abghari.
Abghari, who said he was pretending to be a gangster when he accidentally shot Rader, was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison and is back in jail on armed robbery charges for an alleged crime spree last fall.
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