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Woman living at disputed Nampa property arrested

Posted at 12:58 PM, Apr 13, 2016
and last updated 2016-04-14 00:24:39-04

A woman who has been at the center of a high-profile Nampa rental dispute that has received national media attention now has even more problems.

Debbra Smith was booked into the Canyon County Jail late Tuesday afternoon.

According to Canyon County Spokesman Joe Decker, Smith had failed to complete a court-ordered Sheriff’s labor detail work program.

Decker says because of the violation Smith is required to spend the next eight days in the Canyon County Jail.

According to Nampa Police Sgt. Tim Riha, officers discovered the warrant violation when Smith came into the Nampa Police station Tuesday evening to “report an offense involving (an unidentified party).” She was then booked into the Jail.

In addition, in an unrelated case, Smith now also faces two misdemeanor drug charges.

Riha said a Nampa Police officer pulled Smith over on a traffic stop about 7:40 p.m. last Friday for allegedly failing to properly signal. Suspecting drugs were in Smith’s vehicle, the officer called a K-9 unit to the scene.

Riha says the dog alerted on the vehicle, indicating the presence of narcotics. Riha said officers found “a small amount” of marijuana and drug paraphernalia in Smith’s possession. She was issued citations for two misdemeanors of possessing a controlled substance and possessing drug paraphernalia.

Smith initially appeared in court on Monday, April 11th, for a case involving a husband and wife who claimed Smith had been living in their Westwood Street home illegally.

Smith claims she paid a man $1,500 to rent the property. Brian and Renea Prindle say they do not know the man who signed the rental agreement and were surprised to recently find Smith living in their home.

The Prindles had filed an expedited eviction notice, after claiming they had found drug paraphernalia inside their home.

However, a judge denied the expedited eviction -- claiming the homeowners did not meet the burden of proof in proving the items found inside of the home were actually drug-related.

6 On Your Side is working on this developing story.