FIRST ON WWAY: Three charged with having heroin in Pender County jail after two hospitalized

PENDER COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — The Pender County Sheriff’s Office says jail staff followed protocol when they booked an inmate investigators say had heroin that wound up in the hands of two other inmates.

According to a news release, early Saturday morning EMS took two female inmates to the hospital for medical evaluation.

An investigation revealed that Elizabeth Hardee Howland had reported to the jail to serve a weekend sentence. Investigators say Howland had heroin with her when she was booked in. After Howland went to sleep, the news release says, Marissa Grace Reynolds and Allison Nicole Hall both ingested the heroin that they had taken from Howland.

Howland is charged with possession of a controlled substance in a prison or jail facility and possession of heroin. She was given a $10,000 secured bond.

When Reynolds and Hall returned from the hospital, they were charged with possession of a controlled substance in a prison or jail facility and possession of heroin. Each was given a $15,000 secured bond.

The Pender County Sheriff’s Office says current jail policy requires inmates to be strip searched before admission into general population. Detention officers who were on duty followed current protocols when Howland was admitted into the jail.

Sheriff’s spokesman Capt. James Rowell says staff is not allowed to conduct body cavity searches of inmates.