By STEELE HAUGEN
CENTRAL OREGON DAILY NEWS
On Friday, excited gift recipients ripped and tore into Christmas presents.
Some got exactly what they wanted.
And a Madras family found an unexpected, hidden gift leading them to call law enforcement.
“I kind of looked around in disbelief and everyone’s jaw was kind of on the floor,” said the man, who asked to remain anonymous. “We could not believe that, that is what we actually found in the tool bag.”
A bag of brand new power tools seemed the perfect Christmas gift for the new homeowner but that gift included more than he expected.
“I just looking through the bag and noticed there was kind of a strange object in the very bottom of the bag,” he said. “As I reached in and grabbed it, I almost couldn’t believe it. I pulled it out and it was a pretty good size jar of weed.”
He says the box the DeWalt toolset came in was completely sealed.
“I actually used a pocket knife to cut the, I don’t know, half-inch or full inch bands that go around the packaging,” he said. “Basically, my family member had purchased it straight off the shelf from Lowe’s.”
He was told by the gift-giver, the box was bought at Lowe’s in Bend.
“I put a little deal on Twitter out there just kind of saying, hey this is what happened, I am not upset about it, but I just wanted to give you guys a heads-up that this was happening,” he said.
He was able to get a response from the national office.
In a written statement, Lowe’s tells us, “We take this concern seriously and have reached out to the customer to learn more.”
DeWalt did not respond to our request for comment.
Jefferson County Sheriff Jim Adkins tells Central Oregon Daily News the case is under investigation and the jar of marijuana was turned over to the Central Oregon Drug Enforcement Team.
Adkins also described the case as bizarre and head-scratching.
