Meth Seized By Missoula Police Under California St. Footbridge

Missoula, MT (KGVO-AM News) - On May 23, 2024, at approximately 12:40 PM, a Missoula Police Department Officer was patrolling on foot around the California St. Footbridge looking for a suspect from a bike theft. While walking over the bridge, the officer heard voices coming from the underside of the far north end of the bridge. The officer looked under the bridge to investigate, suspecting that the suspect from the bike theft might have hidden there.

When the officer looked under the bridge, he was met by two people and one was verbally identified as 52-year-old James Ceehorn. The officer immediately recognized a meth pipe in Ceehorn’s hand, which Ceehorn promptly tried to hide. The officer told Ceehorn he already saw his pipe and that he might as well not try to hide it. Ceehorn then showed the officer the pipe.

The officer asked him if he had any meth on him still. Ceehorn looked down and sheepishly said “no”. The officer told him that it was obvious he was lying and asked him again. According to court documents, Ceehorn admitted he did have some meth. The officer told Ceehorn to step out from under the bridge and give the methamphetamine to him, along with the pipe, which he did.

Ceehorn reached into his front pocket and pulled out one small bag of meth. The officer asked Ceehorn if he had any more meth on him, and Ceehorn pulled out another bag and multiple empty bags. Ceehorn told the officer that he and the other person there had just smoked a little under the bridge, so there was nothing else in the pipe.

The officer handcuffed Ceehorn and placed him under arrest. The suspected drugs were seized and later tested positive for meth on the TruNarc spectrometer. Ceehorn is currently being charged with felony criminal possession of dangerous drugs and criminal possession of drug paraphernalia.

The information in this article was obtained from sources that are publicly viewable.