The Maries County Sheriff’s Office Belle Division announced separate drug and robbery arrests with charges filed against each suspects, both who remain jailed.

Jeremy Happel, 31, of Vichy, who was out of prison on parole, was charged Feb. 9 with felony and misdemeanor drug charges by Maries County Prosecuting Attorney Anthony “Tony” Skouby.

“It was good work by everybody involved,” Sheriff Chris Hetiman said of the Maries County Sheriff’s Office Belle Division which made the arrest. “Now let’s hope our justice system does their job.”

Dep. Bret Turnbough conducted a routine traffic stop on Happel around 8 p.m. Feb. 8 on Oak Street in Belle and later arrested him on allegations of possession of controlled substances and suspected drug paraphernalia.

“He threw the drugs down and it was hard to see because of darkness and color,” Heitman said. “The K-9 unit located them.”

The K-9 unit hander, Sgt. Mark Morgan, was called to the scene.

During the investigation, deputies located suspected controlled substances and suspected drug paraphernalia. Marshal Joe Turnbough assisted in the investigation.

“It turns out Happel told the the deputy he was going to a residence on Oak Street and it turned out he didn’t know anyone on Oak Street,” Heitman said.”The residence he was at, the people didn’t know him. So it’s hard to know where he was going or what he was doing at the time.”

Heitman said on Facebook that Happel is “just another case where the Missouri Department of Corrections is failing the state by releasing these criminals."

Happel appeared in Judge Kerry G. Rowden’s courtroom Tuesday morning. He is charged with felony possession of a controlled substance and misdemeanor unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia.

He does not qualify for a public defender because he lives with his parents. Happel told Rowden that he made a mistake and wants to stay in school. Rowden told Happel if he could get into an inpatient treatment program, he would furlough him to treatment. If not, he would see Happel in court next Tuesday.

Happel remains in custody at the Maries County Jail without bond on the judge’s orders. Heitman said he hoped to obtain a parole violation warrant on Happel in the near future.

Skouby also filed a felony charge Feb. 7 against Angela “Andy” Mendoza of Bland alleging second-degree attempted robbery.

Mendoza was arrested by members of the Belle Division on Feb. 6 after an employee at Obermark Optometry reported a customer had just attempted to rob them and had left the business.

The employee gave a detailed description of the incident, the suspect’s name and clothing.

“It didn’t take long to catch her,” Heitman said. “Less than four hours.”

When they later responded to an address Mendoza was known to frequent, she was arrested and placed on a 24-hour hold.

Judge Kerry Rowden ordered Mendoza to remain in custody at the Maries County Jail without bond until her court case review next Tuesday.

“Thankfully no one was hurt,” Heitman said. “It was a stupid action with some big consequences really.”

Heitman said he was pleased by the quick response of the deputies involved and commended the employee for “staying calm de-escalating the situation and taking great mental notes of clothing, appearance, and the vehicle the suspect left in.”

Mendoza is being held at the Maries County Jail without bond because of the nature of the charge.

“Any time a robbery takes place, they consider the individual dangerous to the public,” Heitman explained.