Chelsea O’Donnell, daughter of comedian Rosie O’Donnell, faces three felony counts and two misdemeanors after she was pulled over earlier this month while driving a vehicle that belonged to a woman with a warrant out for her arrest.
Chelsea, 27, is charged with possession of methamphetamine, narcotic possession, felony bail jumping, obstructing an officer and possession of drug paraphernalia. She was booked into Oconto County Jail on October 11 and posted bail three days later.
During a traffic stop early that morning, officers say Chelsea was visibly nervous, refusing to look police in the eye.
“I asked Chelsea where she was going tonight, and initially stated she didn’t know, then appeared to catch herself, and stated ‘to a friend’s,’” according to a police report obtained by Us Weekly. “I asked Chelsea who her friend was and she stated she did not know. I asked the passenger for ID and he did not acknowledge me, and kept looking straight. I asked Chelsea if there were illegal drugs in the vehicle. Chelsea stated she wasn’t sure if there was or not.”
Per police who pulled her over, Chelsea has an open felony drug case for multiple counts of drug possession and maintaining a drug trafficking place.
After asking Chelsea to step out of the car, she then tried to throw a meth pipe into the nearby Oconto River but failed as the pipe bounced off a fence, hit the sidewalk and broke. A police dog also sniffed out the car and detected illegal narcotics.
Officers searched her vehicle and found used needles in the center console, which Chelsea claimed may belong to her passenger, Kyle Sutrick. Sutrick was also placed under arrest.
Later, Chelsea was brought to a local emergency room, where she was asked to remove items hidden in her bra to be placed into evidence. Police say she removed a meth pipe, a pill bottle with pills inside and a baggie of what appeared to be methamphetamine. The confiscated pills included oxycodone, morphine and hydrocodone.
Her arrest comes after Chelsea called 911 and was booked in Marinette County on September 10 on charges of child neglect, possession of methamphetamine and maintaining a drug trafficking place. According to the complaint for a search warrant filed by Marinette County Deputy Michael Kahles and obtained by Us, the sheriff’s office was “consistently getting information that Chelsea has been actively using and trafficking meth from her residence.”
In the same report, officers described her house as “gross and unsanitary” with “the overall appearance of the house inside and out” as “unkempt and filthy” and noted a “strong odor of animal urine and feces” and “rotting garbage.”
Another deputy continued his account of the home as “horrible” and “disgusting; throughout the house I saw rotten food, dirty moldy dishes, milk that stunk so bad it almost made me puke, dirty diapers, used female hygiene products, unclean underwear … and blood stains, and used razor blades on the floor.”
One deputy observed “used hypodermic needles and meth pipes in plain view” in the room belonging to Chelsea’s 11-month-old son, Atlas, whom she shares with boyfriend Jacob Nelund.
Chelsea also shares daughters Skylar Rose, 5, Riley, 3, and Avery Lynn, 2, with ex Jacob Bourassa.
When police spoke to Chelsea while carrying out the search warrant, they observed that she had “numerous indicators of recent methamphetamine use,” describing her as “jittery, sweating profusely, and [having] dilated pupils that are slow to react to light.”
Over the weekend, Rosie, 62, broke her silence on Chelsea’s October arrest via Instagram, where she posted a photo of Chelsea holding one of her children.
“Chelsea is in the news today – this is a photo from a better time – here is the family comment,” Rosie wrote. “Sadly this is not new for our family – chelsea has struggled with drug addiction for a decade – we r all hopeful she will find her way out of this deadly disease #💔 #love #alanon 10.19.24.”
Chelsea is due to appear in court on November 4 in Marinette County and November 7 in Oconto County.
