Surman pleads not guilty to multiple charges

A Libby woman accused of trying to flush a syringe down a Lincoln County Detention Center toilet now faces tampering with evidence and drug paraphernalia possession charges in district court.

Misty Dawn Surman, 39, pleaded not guilty to both charges in Lincoln County District Court on Feb. 24. She has been released on a $5,000 bond, according to court documents.

Surman allegedly tried to get rid of the syringe after authorities arrested her on a probation violation Jan. 28.

Deputy Luke Hauke of the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office wrote in an affidavit that he was helping a colleague when a detention center officer asked him for help. The officer told Hauke that she had caught Surman, a new inmate, trying to flush the needle in the facility’s change room.

When Hauke entered the room, he found Surman sitting on a stool and the syringe floating in the toilet, court documents said.

He described it as the type “commonly sold for insulin” in the affidavit. There was no fluid in the syringe and the plunger was pressed down, but Hauke took the needle as evidence, court documents said.

During a subsequent interview, Surman allegedly told Hauke she used the needle to take drugs several days prior to her arrest. She was saving it for reuse, court documents said.

She had hoped to buy cocaine that day, Hauke wrote in the affidavit.

Hauke later had the syringe inspected; it tested presumptively positive for methamphetamine, court documents said.

The felony tampering with evidence charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years with the state Department of Corrections and up to a $10,000 fine. Possession of drug paraphernalia is punishable by up to six months in county jail and a $500 fine.

Surman is due back in court April 20 for an omnibus hearing with a pretrial conference scheduled for June 1.