Charges filed in State Road 135 North crash
FRUITDALE — A Nashville man has been charged with a felony after a crash in October which injured another driver.
Brown County Sgt. Colton Magner, Deputy Scott Bowling and Indiana State Trooper Justin Griggs responded to a crash with injuries in the 8700 block of 135 North on Oct. 27. It was a head-on collision between two pickup trucks, with a third car, a Toyota Prius, that had been sideswiped just before the crash.
The driver of the Dodge Ram pickup appeared to have serious injuries, police said. EMS put the driver in a neck brace.
The driver of the Chevy Silverado truck was Ray Fox, 41, of Nashville. Fox reportedly did not respond to Magner when asked what happened. Magner repeated his question, to which Fox answered that he was driving and the front end of his vehicle was loose and he could not control it, the police report said.
The driver behind Fox told officers she was his cousin and was following him on the way to a friend’s house. She said she saw Fox appear to be fighting the steering wheel when he went left of center and hit the oncoming truck.
Fox was taken to Johnson Memorial Hospital for his injuries. Magner obtained a search warrant for his blood. On Jan. 11, Magner received results from the Indiana State Department of Toxicology, which found amphetamine and methamphetamine in Fox’s blood, the report said.
Fox was charged on Jan. 8 with a Level 5 felony for causing serious bodily injury when operating a vehicle while intoxicated; a Class A misdemeanor for operating a vehicle while intoxicated — endangering a person; a Class C misdemeanor for operating a vehicle with a schedule I or II controlled substance or its metabolite in the blood; and a Class C misdemeanor for operating a vehicle while intoxicated.
Two charged after meth found in home
Two Brown County residents have been charged with felonies after police received information from a crime stoppers group.
Deputy Joshua Stargell received information on Nov. 18 that Melanie Krebbs, 47, was wanted on outstanding warrants in Bartholomew and Marion counties for possession and dealing in methamphetamine. She was staying in a mobile home on Rinnie Seitz Road with James Dean, 53.
Stargell, Sgt. Colton Magner and Deputy Jacob Gibson went to the home and found all the lights on, powered by a gas-powered generator, the police report said. Police heard speaking inside, but no one came to the door when police knocked. The officers left.
On Nov. 19, Stargell and Gibson returned and again, no one answered the door. On Nov. 20, Stargell, Gibson and Officer Billy Bryant returned and heard a man and woman speaking inside. Police knocked and Dean answered the door.
Dean told officers that Krebbs was not there and his girlfriend was in the bedroom. Police told Dean they knew the car in the driveway belonged to Krebbs, which he confirmed. He asked police if they had warrants, and told them that Krebbs’ attorney would not like police to take her without a hard copy.
Stargell reportedly told Dean that he would apply for a search warrant to get Krebbs and if he did, then Dean would be arrested for assisting a criminal. Dean told police to arrest him, the report said.
Dean also gave police a false identity for Krebbs, telling that a picture they showed him might be her mother, and also handed them an ID card that did not resemble Krebbs, the police report said.
After a warrant was approved, Krebbs walked out of the residence with her hands up. Officers asked why she did not come out and she told police she faced 20 years for a dealing charge. She told police that there was methamphetamine in the residence and that she had used five minutes prior. Krebbs told police that Dean had been staying there but lived in Elizabethtown.
Police found paraphernalia, crystalline substances believed to be methamphetamine, butane torches and a scale in the home. Police said Dean denied knowing the methamphetamine was in the bedroom.
Dean was charged with a Level 5 felony on Jan. 8 for assisting a criminal.
Krebbs was transferred to the custody of the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Office for her warrants there. On Jan. 8, she was charged in Brown County with possession of methamphetamine, a Level 6 felony; and possession of paraphernalia, a Class C misdemeanor.
Report of shooting leads to charges
PEOGA — Police responding to a report of a man accidentally shooting himself in the knee ended up finding a small marijuana grow operation, according to court paperwork.
Deputy Nicholson Briles responded to a home in the 9100 block of Gold Point Road on Dec. 4. Landon Cavender, 22, was reportedly cleaning his handgun when his finger accidentally went over the trigger. He took himself to Johnson County Memorial Hospital and the hospital called police.
Officers found two vehicles in the driveway but were unable to make contact with anyone inside. Briles and Trooper Matt Hatchett went in to check the welfare of anyone who may be injured. They reported finding a smoking pipe and burnt marijuana in a bowl and a tent with UV lights shining in it, which Briles knew could be used to grow marijuana.
They also found finely ground marijuana and rolling papers in the kitchen, bloody jeans on the floor of the dining room, and multiple handguns lying on the dining room table. There was an empty shell from a round that had been discharged, the report said. They didn’t find anyone inside.
A vehicle pulled into the driveway while officers were there. Officers spoke with the driver and passenger and asked if they had been there when Cavender was shot. The man said he was. He said Cavender had been talking about his guns and showing them to him, and after reassembling the weapon he had just cleaned, Cavender accidentally put his finger on the trigger and discharged the weapon. Cavender was able to put a tourniquet on his leg to stop the bleeding. They drove him to the hospital.
Officers asked the witnesses if they knew anything about the marijuana that was found in the house and they said they didn’t. They were released from the scene.
Cavender’s mother gave consent to police to search the house and take whatever marijuana and paraphernalia they found.
Cavender was charged on Jan. 12 with two Class B misdemeanors for possession of marijuana and a Class C misdemeanor for possession of paraphernalia.
Man sleeping in vehicle faces charges
JACKSON TWP. — A local man faces drug charges after callers reported him unresponsive in his vehicle last spring.
On April 4, 2020, Brown County officers, EMS and Jackson Fire were dispatched to the 2900 block of Richards Road for a possible overdose. Dispatch reported a vehicle parked off the edge of the road with a man slumped over in the driver’s seat.
Deputy Nick Briles, Det. Paul Henderson, Indiana State Trooper Matt Hatchett and Deputy Joshua Stargell responded.
Police found that the man was asleep. Michael Kinney, 42, of North Carmel Ridge Road, had a syringe sticking out of his pocket, according to the report. Kinney told police about a cigarette package in the vehicle in which they found marijuana. They also found a baggie containing a substance believed to be heroin, the police report said.
Kinney was issued a summons for possession of a narcotic drug, possession of a syringe, possession of marijuana and violation of emergency travel restrictions. He was charged on Jan. 20 with two counts of possession, both Level 6 felonies; and a Class B misdemeanor for possession of marijuana.
Local man charged after November traffic stop
Drug charges have been filed against a local man after he was stopped for a headlight violation in November.
Deputy Jacob Gibson made the stop on State Road 46 East near the Brown County State Park north gate on Nov. 23. Sgt. Colton Magner assisted Gibson and knew the vehicle belonged to Nicholas Hardin, 36, whom he knew to have a history of drug use, the police report said. Indiana State Trooper Matt Hatchett arrived on scene with K-9 Axe to assist.
In the vehicle, police found THC, a transparent plastic tube and a scale with residue, the report said. Hardin reportedly told police someone else could have put it the tube his vehicle, as he usually just swallows the drugs to ingest them. He said he’d let someone use his vehicle whom he knew to be involved in drug use, but did not clean his car out in fear of any illegal items being left in it.
Officer Billy Bryant reported finding a folded piece of aluminum foil with a white crystalline substance in Hardin’s wallet which police believed to be methamphetamine. Hardin told police he had bought it, the police report said.
Hardin was released from the stop. On Jan. 8 he was charged with possession of methamphetamine, a Level 6 felony; and two counts of possession of paraphernalia, both Class C misdemeanors.
