A 34-year-old Salida woman was arrested early Monday evening and charged with two felony drug offenses and a misdemeanor count of child neglect.

Alex Walker, an investigator with the District Attorney’s Office for the Eleventh Judicial District, received information that the woman, Makala Reanne Jewell, had indicated her willingness to sell methamphetamine.  Working with members of the Chaffee County Drug Task Force, Walker and other officers monitored the movements of the woman until she was observed by officers walking with her eight-year-old son from her home to a nearby convenience store parking lot where she entered a car occupied by an adult male.  Jewell’s son entered the convenience store while Jewell conversed with the man inside his car.  Officers observed the exchange of cash and a substance suspected to be methamphetamine between Jewell and the male occupant of the car.  Jewell then walked inside the convenience store.

Within minutes, uniformed deputies and Salida police officers arrived to make the arrest.  The man in the car was contacted, and 2.5 grams of suspected methamphetamine, allegedly purchased from Jewell, was recovered by officers.  Jewell, inside the store, saw the officers arrive and, evidently anticipating her imminent arrest, gave the cash she allegedly received from the man in the car to her son who placed the cash in his pockets. 

Undersheriff John Spezze entered the store and placed the woman under arrest.  Another deputy spoke with the boy who told the deputy, “Mom gave me the money.”  The money was taken as evidence by the deputy.  A twenty-dollar bill used by Jewell to purchase items in the store was recovered from the cash register and it too was seized as evidence.  

Jewell was lodged at the Chaffee County Detention Facility on charges of unlawful possession of a controlled substance, a class 3 felony; unlawful distribution of a controlled substance, a class 4 felony; and child abuse / neglect of child, a class 3 misdemeanor.  She remains in custody with a bond of $75,000.

The boy was later released to his father, who is separated from Jewell and lives elsewhere.  The man that allegedly purchased the suspected methamphetamine has not yet been charged pending further investigation.