A man from western Iowa was arrested recently on drug charges, in northern Iowa’s Cerro Gordo County.

Barrett booking photo

KIMT-TV in Mason City reports 59-year old Cleo Ray Barrett, of Audubon, was found to be in possession of drugs, during a routine traffic stop Monday morning. Barrett was pulled over  near the interchange of I-35 and Highway 18 for a seat belt violation. A Trooper with the Iowa State Patrol learned Barrett’s license was suspended, and called for a tow truck.

During an inventory of the vehicle, the patrolman says he detected the odor of marijuana. After a search of the vehicle, Barrett was found in possession of $3,200, a scale, a large amount of marijuana, as well as two small baggies of methamphetamine. When asked whether he had documentation for the money, Barrett said he didn’t have any and chose to remain silent on where the money came from.

Barrett is facing charges of possession of a controlled substance, failure to affix a tax stamp, and a controlled substance violation.

COON RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) – A west-central Iowa man has offered $500 to help catch whoever vandalized a memorial to his son who was slain in Afghanistan while serving with the U.S. Army.
Des Moines television station KCCI reports that hollowed-out egg shells filled with pink paint were thrown at the memorial over the weekend. The memorial sits just a few steps from the Coon Rapids shop of Dave Muhr (moor), who built the memorial to honor his youngest son, Shawn. The soldier was killed in January 2011 by a roadside bomb.

Shawn Muhr graduated Coon Rapids-Bayard High School in 2003 and joined the Army in 2005. Police say they found several street signs vandalized in a similar manner with pink paint, so they don’t believe the vandal or vandals specifically targeted the memorial.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s office reports two people were arrested Wednesday on separate charges. Just before 10-p.m., 31-year old Marcus John Josephson, of Red Oak, was arrested on charges stemming from an accident that took place March 18th, in Red Oak. Josephson faces a charge of OWI/Drugged-1st offense. He was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $1,000 bond.

And, at around 9:30-p.m., 37-year old Justin James Smith, of Villisca, was arrested on a Domestic Abuse/Simple Assault charge, following an investigation into an incident that took place in the 100 block of North 4th Avenue in Villisca. Smith was being held without bond in the Montgomery County Jail.

A California woman claims her teenage son was being held against his will at a home in central Iowa. It’s lead to a search warrant and six arrests. The Marshall County Sheriff’s Department received a call alerting them that a 16-year-old boy had allegedly been compelled by threats and deception to stay at a residence in LeGrand in eastern Marshall County for the last two weeks.

Reportedly, the boy was able to slip away and contact his mother, deputies located him, took him into protective custody and interviewed him. The home was alleged to be a den of drug use and sales with the presence of firearms. Information provided eventually lead to two arrests via a traffic stop and four more after a search warrant was issued. Three other children were taken into protective custody.

(Radio Iowa)