The Arkansas City Police Department arrested two Texas residents, John Lamb and Tonya Swonger on suspicion of one felony count each of burglary of a motor vehicle, forgery, possession of meth and possession of opiates or narcotics. Swonger also faces two counts of forgery.
Both Lamb and Swonger are still in custody in the Cowley County Jail with bonds for Lamb at $18,000 and Swongers bond is set at $20,000. They also face charges of suspicion of one misdemeanor count each of endangering a child, possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of stolen property and theft of property valued at less than $1,000.
Officers were dispatched about 9:35 a.m. March 7 for a report of a vehicle burglary in the Walmart Supercenter parking lot, located at 2701 N. Summit St.
An Arkansas City woman, reported her purse had been stolen from her parked car in the Walmart parking lot. While officers were investigating, she received a call from a local bank informing her that someone was attempting to pass one of her personal checks.
The pair was taken into custody when police saw a vehicle with a Conn. License plate and stopped the vehicle.
A 5-month-old infant was found in the back seat of the car and transported to Cowley County Juvenile Intake, pending a police protective custody hearing.
Also items from another vehicle burglary reported at 5 a.m. that day in Stafford were found in the suspects vehicle.
