Two arrested for having meth outside a Centralia school

Two people were arrested Tuesday morning after officers saw them parked in a car directly across the street from Chester Boren Middle School in Centralia.

When officers confronted 26-year-old Levi Cottingham and 33-year-old Evelyn Davenport, they found 30 grams of packaged crystal meth, a loaded handgun, and drug paraphernalia.

Chief Dudgeon with Centralia Police Tuesday said, “At about 5:44 this morning, a young lady went over to open the Extreme Mart store. She noticed a vehicle that Cottingham and Davenport were in, and noticed it looked out of place. She called the police department because the circumstances made her uneasy about opening the store.”

Cottingham was arrested for armed criminal action, possession of a firearm, distribution of a controlled substance near a school, possession with intent to distribute, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Last week, Cottingham was arrested in Mexico after police officers followed up on an existing drug case.

Officers searched Cottingham and found two white crystallized rocks, a clear zip lock bag containing a crystallized white powder substance, and another small zip lock bag containing the same substance. The powder tested positive for meth.

Davenport was arrested for armed criminal action, distribution of a controlled substance near a school, possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Cottingham is currently on parole for drug charges.