Former University of Idaho professor Denise Bennett was arrested without a warrant Friday, as originally reported by the Inland Northwest News.
Bennett was arrested on charges of felony burglary, felony controlled substance possession and misdemeanor drug paraphernalia possession in Lewiston, according to the Idaho Repository.
Bennett posted the $5,000 bond Monday, according to the Idaho Repository report.
According to court documents obtained by Inland Northwest News, Lewiston Police responded at approximately 7:10 a.m. on Friday to a report of a burglary no longer in progress. The complainant stated Bennett had recently been staying with a man in Lewiston and he believed she had entered his trailer through an open window that had been broken and taken his cell phone and other items, according to the Inland Northwest News report.
LPD and Nez Perce Tribal Police Officers made contact with Bennett at the Clearwater River Casino where they observed a blue plastic pen tube with a white crystalline substance inside on the floor of her room. The substance was later determined to be methamphetamine, according to the Inland Northwest News report. Bennett pleaded not guilty to the misdemeanor charge of drug paraphernalia, according to the repository. No plea was entered for the two felony charges.
A status conference in Bennett’s case is scheduled for Monday, with a preliminary hearing set to take place on Wednesday, Oct. 2 in Nez Perce County Magistrate Court, according to Idaho Repository report, as originally reported by the Inland Northwest News.
The Argonaut will continue to cover this story.
This story has been updated to include more information about the charges against Bennett.
Meredith Spelbring and Max Rothenberg can be reached at [email protected]
Editor’s Note: As many Argonaut employees are students in the University of Idaho Journalism and Mass Media Department, no Argonaut employee who has previously worked with Denise Bennett, as part of their curriculum, has or will report on this developing story. It is our mission as a staff to report university and community news with fairness and transparency.