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Retail theft call leads to additional charges

A Summit Hill woman is in trouble for being intoxicated in a Lansford store she is forbidden to enter, police say.

Elizabeth Garrett, 52, of 464 W. White St., was charged with five counts of possession of a controlled substance, public drunkenness and retail theft.According to an affidavit of probable cause filed by Lansford police officer Jason A. Helmer with District Judge Casimir Kosciolek of Lansford, here's what happened:At 3:55 p.m. Dec. 31, Helmer was called to the Family Dollar store on West Patterson Street to investigate a retail theft. He spoke with employee Paul Suzadail, who told him that Garrett had tried to steal a bottle of nail polish remover.Garrett immediately admitted to the offense. When her purse spilled out onto the floor, Helmer saw several different pills. Garrett told him they were Xanax, for which she had a prescription.Helmer noticed a strong smell of alcoholic beverage on Garrett. She had trouble keeping her balance, her speech was slurred and her eyes were red and glassy.He arrested her and took her to the police station. She accepted her Miranda warnings, and declined to give a written statement.Helmer found several loose pills and an empty bottle of alprazolam, the generic form of Xanax, prescribed to Garrett. A second pill bottle was not labeled, and contained 10 white, oval pills stamped "Watson 349."The pills were researched through a drug database and found to be three and one-half alprazolam pills, one each diazepam, lorazepam, and oxycodone pills, and 10 acetaminophen/hydrocodone pills, which were not in any proper packaging as required under the Controlled Substance Act.Garrett's breath test revealed a reading of 0.098 percent.