An eagle-eyed employee at the ABC Supply Co. branch in Hot Springs, Ark., spotted shingles in the back of a pickup truck that led to the arrest of a 60-year-old woman after police also found methamphetamine inside the vehicle, which the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette first reported.

The suspect, Verna Suzanne Love, 60, was arrested last Wednesday evening on felony counts of possession of meth and possession of drug paraphernalia and a misdemeanor theft count. Police said she also had an outstanding warrant for failing to appear in court in Garland County, Ark. 

According to a probable cause affidavit, shortly after 6 p.m. on July 17, Hot Springs police responded to the area of Malvern Avenue and Stanage Drive regarding a theft. The newspaper reported that a 911 caller had followed a woman who had stolen shingles from ABC Supply Co. in Hot Springs. The woman was driving a blue Ford F-250 truck that had run out of gas, police said.

The caller, an ABC Supply employee, told police that around 8 p.m. Tuesday, 18 packages of Tamco Elite roofing shingles (valued at approximately $650) were loaded into a blue truck and driven away. The following day, the employee said he spotted the same truck returning to the store and loading some pallets. As the truck drove off, he said, he spotted the stolen shingles in the bed.

Love reportedly admitted to taking the shingles but said she thought they were "fair game" since they were outside the gate, police said. She said in the past, she had talked to employees regarding pallets and was told she could take them if they were outside the gate, police said.

A computer check showed the failure to appear warrant, so she was taken into custody, police said, adding that, in her purse in the truck, they found an eyeglass case that contained 4.5 grams of what later tested positive for meth — and a clear glass pipe with burn marks.

The suspect said she had “no idea” about the drugs and paraphernalia found, and she was "helping a friend" whom she would not identify, police said.