Pubdate: Wed, 11 Sep 2002 Source: Washington Post (DC) Copyright: 2002 The Washington Post Company Contact: http://www.washingtonpost.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/491 Author: Manuel Roig-Franzia POLICE: NOELLE BUSH FOUND WITH DRUGS Governor's Daughter In Treatment MIAMI, Sept. 10 -- A two-gram rock of crack cocaine was found inside the shoe of Florida Gov. Jeb Bush's 25-year-old daughter by workers at the central Florida rehabilitation center where she is undergoing court-ordered drug treatment, Orlando police said today. Noelle Bush was not arrested because witnesses would not give sworn statements, but the incident is under investigation, according to Orlando police spokesman Orlando Rolon. Bush entered a drug treatment program in February, one month after she was charged with a third-degree felony for allegedly trying to buy the anti-anxiety drug Xanax with a fake prescription at a drive-through pharmacy in Tallahassee, the state capital. She was jailed for three days in July for violating the terms of her court-ordered treatment program after rehabilitation center workers discovered that she was carrying prescription pills. Word of the incident spread Tuesday morning during a chaotic primary election day in Florida, where Gov. Bush was inundated with complaints about voting machines not working and alleged voting irregularities. "This is a private matter as it relates to my daughter and myself and my wife," Gov. Bush told reporters. "The road to recovery is a rocky one for a lot of people that have this kind of problem." A resident at the Center for Drug-Free Living in Orlando, where Noelle Bush is being treated, called police late Monday evening and told officers that "the governor's daughter was caught" with drugs, a police report says. In May, Noelle Bush had requested a transfer to the center, which court officials in Orange County say has a 75 percent success rate. When officers arrived at the center, two staff members told them that they had searched Noelle Bush after several residents complained about her, the report says. Staff members also told the officers that residents are warned that they can be searched at any time. The white rock that staff members found in Noelle Bush's shoe tested positive for crack cocaine, the report says. One of the staff members -- Julia Elias -- began writing a statement about the incident, but tore it up and threw it away after her supervisor -- Wilma Accison -- called and told her not to speak with the police, the report says. The officers picked up the torn statement and logged it as evidence. Later, the program director, Joyce G. Brulon, arrived and told officers that the center typically handles such incidents in-house, rather than contacting police, the report states. Brulon's statement was contradicted by one of her staff members, Sandra J. Williams, who told officers that the center's policy requires such matters to be referred to the police, the report says. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens