A 32-year-old Riverton woman, Randi Jo Duran, is accused of 2 counts of endangering children, and 1 count of possession of methamphetamine.
On December 20th, a Riverton Police officer was dispatched to a household on Blackfoot Avenue for a welfare check on children inside of the house.
As the RPD officer arrived, he said he could verbally hear a woman inside of the house say, “give me another hit.” After the officer knocked on the door and identified himself, he described hearing a door shut inside of the house. The officer knocked loudly several more times before it was answered by a woman who identified herself as a relative of Duran’s.
Court documents show the officer heard a woman telling others to, “be quiet” in one of the bedrooms. Randi Duran exited the bedroom and asked the officer, “what do you want?’ The officer noted that he was at the house for a welfare check on the children and asked if he could see them, Duran replied, “F*** no, they’re sleeping.” The officer told the woman that his job was to check on the children whether or not they were awake, to which Duran replied, “Okay then, F***.”
During the brief encounter, court documents show that the RPD officer noticed that Duran had smelled of a strong alcohol odor and that she was, “unable to sit still, constantly pulling at her clothing.”
After the officer entered the bedroom, he located seven people laying on the floor. The officer identified himself and reported that he did not receive a response from any of the seven people in the room. The officer identified an adult male laying under a blanket, as he attempted to remove the blanket the 40-year-old man sat upright with his fist clinched and yelled, “I’m going to F****** stab you.” At this point, the officer drew his Glock 22 handgun. After doing so, the man revealed he did not have a weapon, or any object, in his clenched fist and apologized to the officer. He explained that he was “startled awake.”
Also in the bedroom were five children ranging from 14-years-old to 4-years-old. Court documents show the officer described the bedroom floor as having, “Vodka bottles scattered throughout the bedroom and cigarette butts on the floor near the bedding.” The RPD officer described not being able to walk without stepping on garbage or clothing. He said there was a small cutout area inside of the bedroom, where two of the children told him they slept. He explained that neither child was able to sleep with their legs fully extended in the small space.
The officer located a small pink child’s backpack on the floor near two of the children. Duran said the backpack belonged to a woman who had fled out the back door when she had heard officers knocking on the front door. Others in the household said there was not actually another woman inside of the residence.
Inside of the backpack, the officer found several small baggies, a digital scale, a marijuana pipe made from a prescription pill bottle, and a small black mesh bag. Inside of the mesh bag were several more baggies and straws. One of the baggies contained a white crystal substance that the officer identified as what was likely methamphetamine. Also inside of the backpack were several pieces of identification that belonged to Duran. After being questioned about it, Duran “became belligerent,” saying the female who fled had put her belongings in the bag as an attempt to “frame” her.
At this point, the RPD officer determined the children were not safe in Duran’s care. She was placed under arrest. The children were taken into the care of a relative temporarily.
As Duran was being arrested, documents said that she described to the RPD officer, “I only smoked some weird s*** earlier and it wasn’t in this house.”
After a test was administered using a nik kit, it was determined that the backpack contained both methamphetamine and marijuana.
Duran waived her preliminary hearing on December 27th. The matter will be transferred to District Court at a later date.
If convicted on all three counts, she faces up to 7 years of imprisonment and a fine of up to $7,000.
All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.