WARSAW — A Pierceton woman was searched by police after being suspected of shoplifting and was subsequently arrested for not only theft, but also possession of methamphetamine, according to police.

Vanessa Renee Newman

Vanessa Renee Newman, 44, 3710 S. SR 5, Lot 57, Pierceton, was charged with possession of methamphetamine, a level 6 felony, and theft, a class A misdemeanor.

According to the affidavit of probable cause, Newman and another woman were in Walmart of Warsaw on March 18, when they were observed by a loss prevention official bypassing the scanner on several products and then walking past all points of pay without paying for the items. The unpaid items totaled $274.18.

The official confronted the women, who then admitted to the theft and offered to pay for the items. Officers from the Warsaw Police Department were called and, according to the report, searched Newman and found a metal container that contained a plastic bag with a powdered substance that field tested as methamphetamine. Newman told the officer she forgot the substance was in her purse.

Police said the substance weighed three-tenths of a gram.