Three arrested in Redmond on theft, drug charges

A shoplifting incident at a Bend store led to the arrest of three people Thursday after they headed north and parked at the Redmond Fred Meyer, police said Friday. In their SUV, police said they found stolen property as well as heroin, methamphetamine and marijuana.

Redmond police Lt. Keith Knight said a Deschutes County sheriff’s deputy in an unmarked car had followed the trio’s Chevy Blazer north from Bend after the alleged theft at the Bend Sportsman’s Warehouse.

Around 4:45 p.m., after the SUV pulled into the Fred Meyer lot, officers contacted Natashia May Edwards, 20, of Redmond, and Megan Dawn Maher, 22, a transient, who were still in the Blazer, and Derek James Thayer, 32, of Redmond, as he walked toward the store, Knight said.

Assisted by the sheriff’s office and a loss prevention officer, officers found stolen property from Sportsman’s Warehouse and possibly other businesses, as well as numerous types and quantities of drugs.

The three were charged with theft, as well as heroin and methamphetamine possession, distribution and manufacture, and marijuana manufacture and distribution. Maher also was charged with resisting arrest.

All three remained in the county jail in Bend on Friday, with Edwards and Thayer held without bail on parole violation charges.

Redmond police thanked the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office for their help in the case.