Woman Charged With Stashing Drugs In Her Child's Pocket While Being Arrested For Shoplifting

Jennifer Shurtleff, a 27-year-old Hannibal woman was jailed Thursday after she allegedly hid a large amount of drugs in her child's pocket while she was caught shoplifting from Kmart.

According to Quincy Police, Shurtleff was attempting to shoplift from a local Kmart when she was stopped by a loss prevention officer working at the store.

The loss prevention officer held the woman and her younh daughter at the store until police arrived on the scene.

Arriving officers searched Shurtleff and her daughter and allegedly recovered stolen merchandise totaling less than $300. Officers also discovered heroin, cocaine and marijuana that Shurtleff had placed inside her daughter's pocket.

The amount of cocaine and heroin found in the child's pocket exceeded one full gram each, so the charges against Shurtleff were upgraded to possession with intent to sell.

Shurtleff was booked into the Adams County Jail and charged with endangering the welfare of a child, two felony counts of unlawful possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, one felony count of retail theft, and unlawful possession of cannabis. She is currently being held in lieu of a $20,000 bond.

According to court records, this was not Shurtleff's first retail theft charge. In 2009, she received 12 months conditional discharge, 40 hours of public service, and two days in the county jail. She successfully completed the terms of her discharge in 2009