Owner of adult-care home allegedly possessed meth, is jailed

Published 1:30 am Tuesday, October 31, 2017

EVERETT — The owner of a Snohomish-area adult family home that was shut down by the state last week has been arrested on drug allegations.

Colleen Crawford, 55, was booked late Monday into the Snohomish County Jail for investigation of meth possession. Snohomish County sheriff’s deputies contacted her after reports that she might have been suicidal outside a store on Bickford Avenue, according to court papers. More than an ounce of meth allegedly was found in her purse.

The arrest was not directly related to the state’s allegations into her caregiving practices, said Shari Ireton, spokeswoman for the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office.

The sheriff’s office has been asked to investigate those allegations as well, Ireton said.

Crawford is accused by the state Department of Social and Health Services of improper conduct in running the Country Care home on 81st Place SE. The state alleges that residents did not receive required medical care, and that hundreds of doses of painkillers went missing. The home was shut down Thursday and residents were relocated.

Crawford has denied the allegations of improper care.