ORANGE : Jail Cook Held as Drug-Selling Suspect
A cook at the Theo Lacy Branch Jail was arrested on suspicion of selling cocaine in a mall parking lot, a spokesman for the Sheriff’s Department said Tuesday.
Wayne Robie, 48, of Orange was taken into custody Monday about 7:20 p.m. after he tried selling a quarter gram of cocaine to an undercover deputy at The City Shopping Center in Orange, Lt. Dick Olson said.
Robie was hired in September to be a senior institutional cook at the jail in Orange. A few weeks ago, investigators received information that made them suspect that he might be a drug dealer, Olson said.
After the arrest, a search warrant was served at his home, car and locker at Theo Lacy. Investigators said they found a small amount of cocaine and methamphetamine at his home. Officials said that nothing drug-related was in his car or locker and that there is “no evidence to substantiate that he was involved in illegal activity at his work site,” Olson said.
Robie resigned as the jail’s cook shortly after he was arrested. He was booked into a city jail in lieu of $25,000 bail, but the sheriff’s spokesman would not say in which city.
“He’s not in a county jail because he’s an ex-county employee who is familiar with the jail system,” Olson said.
Robie might not be safe in a county jail, the sheriff’s spokesman said.
The former cook was scheduled to be arraigned today9 on the single charge of selling narcotics, Olson said.
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