Police arrested a Washougal woman Thursday after they discovered she was allegedly dealing methamphetamine from her hospital room, all without drawing attention from hospital staff.
Camas police detectives received information from an informant that Karin Renae Cole, 47, was dealing methamphetamine directly from her hospital room at PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center in Vancouver, according to the Camas Police Department.
Detectives obtained a search warrant and searched her room at about 4 p.m. Thursday and recovered 6 1/2 grams of meth, a digital scale, drug packaging materials and other drug-related paraphernalia.
The materials were hidden in a closet in the room, Camas police Sgt. David Chaney said.
Officers didn’t arrest Cole at the time of the search warrant due to medical concerns, police said. She had been at PeaceHealth for five days and was discharged from the hospital later on Thursday, Chaney said. Camas detectives have referred a charge of possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver to the Clark County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
Hospital staff was cooperative with law enforcement during the investigation and staff told detectives that they were unaware of the alleged illegal activity, police said.
“PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center applauds the Camas Police Department for their work in this investigation,” PeaceHealth spokesman Randy Querin said. “We will continue to cooperate fully in this rare situation.”
Querin said that he is not aware of any prior police searches of this nature in the facility’s history. It’s a new one for Camas police, too.
“I’ve been a policeman for 20 years, and I’ve never seen something quite like this before,” Chaney said. “It’s definitely a new twist on dealing drugs, and it shows how powerful drug addiction can be.”
Camas police said they are familiar with Cole, having dealt with her during a separate drug-related incident earlier this year.
She was arrested in January on suspicion of dealing methamphetamine out of her home on K Street in Washougal, according to documents filed in Superior Court. When Camas police interviewed her, she told them she “sells meth because she broke her foot and she is bored.”
Her next court appearance in that case is scheduled for May 28.
Cole told police she has used meth off and on for 20 years, court documents said. She has a lengthy criminal history of methamphetamine possession and property crimes. In 1998, corrections deputies at the Clark County Jail searched her pod and found a plastic bag inside of her mattress containing a white powder that tested positive for methamphetamine, court documents said. She told police that she had the drugs on her during a court appearance and brought them into the jail when she was booked.
