Police: Drugs, marijuana seized from health-care service worker

Police recently seized a small quantity of prescription drugs and marijuana from a Cape Girardeau woman employed by a home health-care service, they said.

According to a probable-cause statement, Audrey Douglas, 26, of 202 Alpine St., said she planned on selling the drugs to one of her home health-care clients.

Officers from the Southeast Missouri Drug Task Force, Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department and Missouri State Highway Patrol executed a search warrant for Douglas' residence.

Two clear plastic baggies, a wooden dugout containing marijuana, a pipe, a set of handscales and three hydrocodone tablets were seized from the residence, police said.

According to police, Douglas said she was selling the drugs because her boyfriend, Christopher C. Vanpelt, 28, was out of work.

She said she had given the rest of the hydrocodone tablets to a local chiropractor to assist with paying bills.

Vanpelt was charged April 3 with one count of possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, and Douglas was charged with two counts of the same charge. Bond was set at $50,000 for Douglas and $25,000 for Vanpelt.