Woman Stole a Car and Later Got Caught With Drugs

At around 8:15 a.m. on Saturday, Missoula Police officers responded to a report of a vehicle theft at a convenience store in the 3400 block of Mullan Road. Police Public Information Officer Travis Welsh explains.

“Witnesses there advised officers that they had seen an adult female get into the car and drive it away after the apparent owner had left it running in the parking lot,” Welsh said. “They provided a description of the suspect. A short time later, after the vehicle owner had used an application to locate her phone that was left in the car, the car was in fact located in the 2500 block of South 14^th Street West.”

The complainant told an officer that her coworker was able to utilize "find my iphone", and get a location of her phone, which was in the stolen vehicle. The complainant’s coworker found the stolen car and used her own truck to prevent it from leaving. The coworker said the female driver exited the complainant’s vehicle and left on foot.

“A short time after that, an officer observed a female matching that description walking on Reserve Street from Mount,” Welsh said. “The officer made contact with her and identified her as 31-year-old Jade Mitchell. At the conclusion of the investigation, Mitchell was placed under arrest and transported to the Missoula County Detention Center.”

According to court documents, an officer searched Mitchell’s backpack to assure nothing dangerous was inside. During the search, the officer located one used hypodermic needle and one hypodermic needle that contained 43 milliliters of a clear liquid. The liquid tested positive for fentanyl and methamphetamine. Mitchell was charged with felony theft and felony criminal possession of dangerous drugs.