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Old Town woman eats drugs on way to jail, police say

By Nok-Noi Ricker, BDN Staff

Posted Feb. 07, 2012, at 12:19 p.m.
Last modified Feb. 07, 2012, at 6:48 p.m.

Bangor Police Department

Dawn Thibodeau

BANGOR, Maine — An Old Town woman caught shoplifting at Kohl’s on Saturday slipped out of her handcuffs and popped a prescription pill into her mouth while en route to Penobscot County Jail, Bangor police Sgt. Paul Edwards said Monday.

Officer Dan Sanborn was driving when he noticed that Dawn Thibodeau, 29, “looked like she had something in her mouth,” the sergeant said.

Sandborn pulled his cruiser over and put on gloves to remove what Thibodeau was chewing on, Edwards said.

“It was like green pasty stuff,” the sergeant said. “She said it was a couple of pills.”

Thibodeau later said she attempted to ingest diverted Klonopin, an anti-anxiety medication. She was able to slip out of her handcuffs, pop the pill into her mouth and then return her hands into the restraints, Edwards said. The paste collected from her mouth was kept as evidence, the sergeant said.

Police were called to Kohl’s around 10 a.m. Saturday after Thibodeau reportedly selected lip gloss and a candle and tried to leave the store without paying for them. She was charged with theft by unauthorized taking for the shoplifting, unlawful possession of a scheduled drug for the Klonapin, and falsifying physical evidence for chewing on the pills, Edwards said.

Thibodeau was indicted by the Penobscot County grand jury in December for theft by unauthorized taking for a prior theft, according to a previous Bangor Daily News report. (Nok-Noi Ricker, BDN)