Bear chase leads to pot bust

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Seattle Post Intelligencer

CLARKSTON, Wash. -- Two people were arrested after police chasing a runaway black bear stumbled into a backyard pot-growing operation.

Kim H. Bedwell, 52, and Gladys P. Bedwell, 50, both face charges of manufacturing marijuana and possession of marijuana with intent to deliver.

On Wednesday, Asotin County Superior Judge Ray D. Lutes set bail of $250,000 for Kim Bedwell and $100,000 for Gladys Bedwell. They were being held at the Asotin County Jail.

According to police reports, a black bear being chased by law enforcement officers jumped a fence Tuesday afternoon and landed in the Bedwells' backyard.

During the commotion, Kim Bedwell allegedly tried to stash some marijuana plants under a vehicle in his garage, according to the report.

After he was spotted by police and told to stop, he allegedly ran out of his garage and tossed a plant over a fence.

Clarkston police officer Scott Wohl was pursuing the bear when a large marijuana plant sailed over the fence and landed on him, police said. Deputies jumped the fence and arrested Kim Bedwell, according to the report.

Officers searched the Bedwell home and found four bags of marijuana in a refrigerator in the garage, and a grow room, according to the report. Inside the residence, police found two bags of marijuana in the refrigerator.

The 300-pound black bear was later captured and killed.