Wrangell police arrested 39-year-old Cooper Seimears, 29-year-old Jacob Marshall and his fiancee, 29-year-old McKenna Harding, after searching two homes on Tuesday. The following day, the three suspects had their arraignment on various felonies and misdemeanor counts for allegedly possessing, delivering and selling narcotics. In court documents, police said they found pills and liquids that they think are oxycodone, MDMA, cocaine and fentanyl. Police said they also found what they think is methamphetamine and paraphernalia. The police department will send the items to the Alaska State Crime Lab for further testing.
Police won’t say how much of the drugs they seized.
Seimears and Marshall were each charged with eight felony counts and one misdemeanor for allegedly possessing and selling drugs and possessing weapons with drugs. Harding is facing one felony and one misdemeanor for allegedly delivering and possessing narcotics . At the arraignment, Judge Pamela Stahla-Kernin said it appeared that Harding was on the periphery of the drug enterprise.
Harding and Marshall are also facing two misdemeanors for allegedly having drugs around children.
Preliminary court dates
Marshall and Seimears each have a $25,000 bail plus a third-party custodian requirement. Their preliminary court date is Feb. 7.
Harding was released from jail on just over $3,000 bail. Her preliminary court date is Feb. 18.
The charges stem from tips the Wrangell Police Department received from community members. The tippers showed law enforcement social media messages and drug paraphernalia. The department obtained social media search warrants that eventually led to search warrants for two homes and their vehicles.
‘Everybody surrendered. There was no vehicle pursuits, nothing out of the ordinary.’
Wrangell Police Chief Gene Meek said the search operation went smoothly with the help of other law enforcement agencies.
“The search warrants went off exceptional, by that I mean there was no injuries,” he said. “Everybody surrendered. There was no vehicle pursuits, nothing out of the ordinary. Everything went very smoothly. We took three people into custody.”
Meek said the law enforcement agencies involved include Petersburg Police Department, U.S. Forest Service, the local Border Patrol Officer and the local Alaska Wildlife Trooper. He said the drugs came from out of town and they’re working with partners, including the Southeast Alaska Cities Against Drugs Task Force for further investigation.
Wrangell has limited resources for those struggling with addiction
Wrangell Borough Manager Mason Villarma said the arrests have been a long time coming and he appreciates Meek’s efforts since he was hired as police chief last summer.
“We have a lot of empathy and understand that a lot of families are impacted by substance abuse and a lot of sadness, just in general,” Villarma said. “But at the same time, I’m very proud of the Wrangell Police Department and the partnership they have with the Petersburg Police Department to take on a very serious drug problem in southeast Alaska.”
He said Wrangell, in particular, has limited resources for people who are struggling with addiction.
“More work needs to be done,” Villarma said. “It’s obviously an issue that our state delegation and federal delegation are super passionate about. Senator Sullivan has posted that a lot, so something to look into. But I can’t say that we have done a lot of work, and we need to.”
Villarma said for now, the Wrangell Medical Center offers help to some degree, but most options are off the island.
