Crab Orchard Police Chief Butch Phillips said that in the course of an investigation into a report of stolen property, he, Lincoln County Deputy Chad Smith and Constable Kenny Hodge found a hidden stash of prescription drugs while acting on a phone tip that Harold Fowler, 1324 Walnut St., Crab Orchard, had traded drugs for a stolen chainsaw. When contacted, Fowler said he had purchased the chainsaw the day before and gave permission to search his home.
In the course of the search, the officers discovered a bag of prescription pills hidden in a phony hairspray bottle with a screw-off bottom. Phillips said the bag contained 65 Soma pills, a prescription muscle relaxant, and a powder that appeared to be crushed pills.
Fowler has not been arrested in the case, but an adult male was arrested on an outstanding felony warrant and taken to the Lincoln County Regional Detention Center by Deputy Smith. Phillips could not provide the name of the man arrested, referring the newspaper to Smith, who was not available by press time. Fowler was convicted in 2007 of attempted trafficking in a controlled substance within 1,000 yards of school and other drug charges.
