Leave a message at the tone

 I’m still trying to figure out how a msg from the police department would have you thinking they’re drug dealers? I guess that’s why they’re cops and I’m not…..
LAKE CHARLES, LOUISIANA

Worried that the car they had pulled over was stolen, two Lake Charles police officers called the owner and left a message. Apparently thinking that the message had come from a drug dealer, the owner returned the call and was later arrested for allegedly trying to set up a drug deal.

“Officers put in a lot of energy to close a case, so we never mind getting one on sheer luck and stupidity,” Lake Charles police Sgt. Mark Kraus said of last week’s arrest.

According to Kraus, the story began Thursday when officers Hope Kingery and George Miller pulled over a vehicle for a traffic violation.

When the driver could not produce identification or a valid driver’s license, Miller tried to contact the registered owner of the vehicle. The call went unanswered, but officers later determined that the vehicle wasn’t stolen and allowed the driver to leave, Kraus said.

About an hour later, Miller got a call on his cell phone from the apparent owner of the car “who stated that she would like to buy $150 in crack,” Kraus said.

Miller went along with the call and agreed to a meeting, which resulted in the arrest of Jill Foreman, 33, of Sulphur, and her fiance, Larry Rieck, 49, also of Sulphur.

Kraus said both have long histories of drug-related arrests. Rieck, was still in the Calcasieu Parish Jail Tuesday morning, booked with conspiracy to distribute a controlled dangerous substance. He was also being held on a “failure to appear” bench warrant, the Sheriff’s Office said. Details were not available. Foreman had bonded out Friday after being booked with conspiracy to distribute a controlled dangerous substance, the Sheriff’s Office said. There was no phone listing available for her in Sulphur listings and the Sheriff’s Office had no lawyer listed for either Rieck or Foreman.