Shoplifting suspect accused of hiding meth

A 32-year-old man failed in his attempt to steal a GPS unit from Walmart in Hayden on Friday.

When he was arrested, detectives discovered he had failed at something else - hiding his meth.

Christopher Huber told a Kootenai County Sheriff's deputy he was with a friend who was shopping at the store. According to an incident report, he became bored and began browsing the electronics section.

When he saw the GPS unit, Huber told detectives he thought it "looked cool."

He cut the plastic security shell off it with his red pocket knife. However, Huber said he was afraid to actually steal the unit and put it back on a shelf.

Huber's attempt at shoplifting was observed by a loss prevention agent at the store, who detained him until local police officers arrived.

Detectives patted Huber down to make sure he did not have any weapons. When they asked if they could search him for any contraband, he told them they couldn't.

According to the report, Huber then pulled out some loose change, a wallet and a black hide-a-key box to show the deputy he had nothing to hide.

After transporting Huber to the county jail, the deputy looked inside the hide-a-key and found seven small plastic bags. One of the bags contained 1.2 grams of a white crystalline substance consistent with methamphetamine.

Huber was charged with malicious injury to property and possession of drugs and paraphernalia.