Three Chico women were arrested early this morning at a Corning casino on suspicion of drug possession after one of them went back to the casino to reclaim a purse she’d left there earlier, though the handbag had methamphetamine inside, deputies say.

At 3 a.m., Tehama County sheriff’s deputies responded to Rolling Hills Casino after security guards found 54-year-old Michelle Kershaw’s purse.

Deputies say the guards looked through the purse hoping to find Kershaw’s ID, but they also found a baggie with a “white crystal-like substance” inside.
Deputies said that when the woman returned to pick up her purse, she was arrested after admitting to them that the baggie contained meth.

Kershaw told deputies her friends were outside waiting for her in the car. The deputies went out to speak with them. They asked if anyone else had anything illegal inside the car.

One of the women, 29-year-old Shantana Wardsworth, allegedly told deputies she had a crack pipe. During a search, they found the pipe inside Wardsworth’s cigarette box, deputies said.

One of the car’s passengers, 45-year-old Jacqueline Thomas, told deputies she thought she might have a warrant out for her arrest. They checked, and she was arrested for a misdemeanor warrant out of Butte County, deputies said.
Thomas also was searched.

Deputies say they found a baggie with less than an ounce of crack cocaine.
The three woman were taken to the Tehama County jail. Kershaw was being held in lieu of $15,000 bail; Wardsworth on $3,000 and Thomas on $15,000.