<strong>Police checking on vehicle at store arrest two</strong>
HELMSBURG — Two people have been charged with multiple felonies and misdemeanors after police reported finding drugs and paraphernalia while checking on a person outside the Helmsburg General Store after hours.
Sgt. Colton Magner with the Brown County Sheriff’s Department was riding with Deputy Zaccary Sheppard when the two noticed a man standing at the pop machine outside the store just after midnight on March 30.
Due to prior theft attempts and nighttime vandalism at the store, the officers circled back around to check what was happening, a probable cause affidavit states. The two vehicles at the store began to pull away when the officers came back, so Magner initiated his emergency lights to stop them.
The driver of one vehicle, 46-year-old Eric Wilson of Indianapolis, spoke quietly and with his head down. Magner also reported the passenger, 46-year-old Tonja Slaten of Forest Hills Drive, was shaking nervously.
When asked if there were any drugs in the vehicle, Slaten told police she had a pipe with her in one of her bags, the affidavit states.
Magner searched Wilson’s wallet and reported finding a strip of suboxone for which he did not have a prescription.
In the vehicle, Sheppard reported finding paraphernalia where Slaten was sitting and a pill bottle with no label that contained multiple baggies of illegal drugs, the affidavit states.
The driver of the other vehicle at the scene was the owner of the vehicle Slaten and Wilson were in. He said he had come to pull the vehicle out of the mud and he had signed the title over to them to “help them out,” according to the affidavit.
During the search of the couple’s vehicle, officers reported finding suspected methamphetamine and Xanax along with paraphernalia, syringes and multiple knives. Slaten had one knife on her and Wilson had two.
Both Slaten and Wilson claimed ownership for everything found in the vehicle.
On March 30, both were both charged with possession of methamphetamine, a Level 6 felony; unlawful possession of a syringe, a Level 6 felony; possession of a controlled substance, a Class A misdemeanor; and possession of paraphernalia, a Class C misdemeanor.
Wilson also was charged with driving while suspended, Class A misdemeanor.
<strong>New drug charges added to man’s warrant arrest</strong>
FRUITDALE — A 53-year-old Morgantown man faces more criminal charges after he resisted arrest when officers showed up to serve a warrant on March 19.
Police arrived at a home on Hornettown Road after receiving information that Clayton Haggard was there. Haggard was wanted out of Morgan County for driving while suspended with a prior offense, according to a probable cause affidavit by Brown County Sheriff’s Deputy Josh Stargell.
Deputy Shane Jackson reported finding Haggard partially hiding under the garage. Haggard tried to pull his arm away while Stargell was trying to put his hands behind his back, the affidavit states. Stargell reported having to use force to to put him in handcuffs. While Haggard was resisting arrest, Deputy Dan Acres reported seeing him throw a glasses case from his pocket.
Haggard said the case not his and he did not know anything about it. Inside were two syringes. Under the garage, police found a glass smoking device and a partially burnt marijuana cigarette near where Haggard was first standing when police arrived.
While on the way to the jail, Haggard told police that he began using meth when he was 50 and the drug gives him the energy he needs to fight fatigue from a health condition, according to the affidavit.
On March 22, Haggard was charged with unlawful possession of a syringe, a Level 6 felony; and three misdemeanors for possession of marijuana, paraphernalia and resisting law enforcement.
<strong>Stop for failure to signal results in felony</strong>
A 27-year-old Brown County man has been charged with a felony and two drug misdemeanors after he was stopped for failing to signal on March 8.
Nashville Police Patrolman Billy Bryant stopped Shane Atkins, of State Road 46 East, in the 1700 block of that road. When asked if there was anything illegal in his vehicle, Atkins said no, but Bryant noted he was trembling and his breathing was rapid, the probable cause affidavit states.
Before Bryant patted Atkins down, he gave Bryant a silver tin with buprenorphine hydrochloride inside. The drug is used to treat opioid addiction and Atkins did not have a prescription. He told police he bought the pills in Martinsville, the affidavit states.
Bryant also reported finding a bag of marijuana and Atkins said he forgot he had that on him. He told Bryant there was a pipe inside the vehicle for smoking marijuana.
Atkins was cited and given a summons before being released from the scene. He was formally charged on March 29 with unlawful possession or use of a legend drug, a Level 6 felony; and two misdemeanors for possession of marijuana and paraphernalia.
<strong>Police: Woman bought pills to stay awake</strong>
A misdemeanor charge has been filed against a 37-year-old Bloomington woman after she was stopped for speeding in Brown County and police reported finding nearly 20 pills in her possession with no prescription.
Erin Myers was stopped by Nashville Police Patrolman Billy Bryant on Feb. 25 just before 10:30 p.m. after he clocked her driving 63 mph in a 45 mph zone on State Road 46 West, a probable cause affidavit states.
Myers admitted to speeding on her way home to Bloomington. While getting her license and registration from her, Bryant reported seeing a pill bottle without a label on it in the middle console below the radio.
Myers said they were her Adderall pills, but that she did not have a prescription for them and uses the blank bottle to take pills to work. Bryant noted the amount of pills in the bottle were more pills than a person would take during a shift at work, the affidavit said.
Myers said she could not provide proof of the prescription. When given the bottle, Bryant noted some of the pills were broken. The pills were later identified as being amphetamine and dextroamphetamine, a Schedule II controlled substance.
Myers eventually admitted the pills were not prescribed to her and she bought them from someone to help her stay awake at work, the police report said. She was cited for speeding, then issued a summons before being released from the scene. She was formally charged on March 24 with possession of a controlled substance, a Class A misdemeanor.
<strong>Improper pass stop results in OWI arrest</strong>
A 54-year-old Brown County man was arrested on drunken driving charges after he was stopped for passing a vehicle in a turn lane in Nashville.
Nashville Police Patrolman Cody Poynter was driving north on Van Buren Street on March 14 when he saw the vehicle go into a turn lane and speed up to pass a vehicle in front of it before getting back in the straight lane, the affidavit states.
The driver, Brian Prevost of Redbud Lane, told the officer he knew it was wrong to pass the vehicle like that. Poynter reported smelling alcohol on him. Prevost denied drinking alcohol and agreed to submit to field sobriety tests, which he failed, the police report said.
A portable breath test showed his blood alcohol content to be 0.08. He was arrested. On March 15, he was charged with three misdemeanors for operating a vehicle while intoxicated.
<strong>OWI charges filed after left-of-center stop</strong>
A stop for driving left of center resulted in a 21-year-old Clarksville man being charged with three misdemeanors for driving while intoxicated.
Brown County Sheriff’s Deputy Josh Stargell stopped Troy Embry on State Road 46 West outside of Nashville just before 3 a.m. Dec. 12.
Stargell reported smelling alcohol on Embry and seeing alcoholic beverage containers in the vehicle. He reported that Embry’s speech was slurred, his eyes were red and watery, his manual dexterity was poor and his balance was unsteady.
Embry refused a chemical test and a warrant was obtained. The results of that test showed his blood alcohol content was 0.17 at the time of the stop, the affidavit states.
He was formally charged on March 19 with three misdemeanors for operating a vehicle while intoxicated.
<strong>Driver crashes feet from home, charged with OWI</strong>
VAN BUREN TWP. — The driver of a vehicle that crashed and caught fire faces two misdemeanors for operating a vehicle while intoxicated after police responded to the crash not far from his driveway.
Police, EMS and firefighters responded to the crash on Jan. 17 in the 2300 block of Valley Branch Road. While on the way, dispatched reported the driver was possibly intoxicated and that the car was engulfed in flames, an incident report states.
Brown County Sheriff’s Deputy Austin Schonfeld found the car partially on fire. He wrote that the driver, Kaleb Steele, 24, had bloodshot eyes and his speech was slurred, and he was swaying back and forth and having problems staying focused.
Steele was wearing a T-shirt, basketball shorts and a pair of moccasins. Schonfeld noted the temperature outside was around 32 degrees. He told the officer he had just left his house and was on his way to visit his girlfriend when a Volkswagen ran him off the road, causing him to strike a tree and a mailbox, the report states. He said he had been drinking about two hours earlier.
Schonfeld noted that Steele’s house was less than 1,000 feet from the crash. Evidence showed he was driving at a high rate of speed; it was also snowing and the roads were slick, Schonfeld wrote.
Steele’s father was also at the scene and told police he had showed up to the house intoxicated almost three hours earlier. There was an argument over his level of intoxication and Steele ended up leaving.
A witness to the crash did not see a white Volkswagen and helped Steele out of the car once it caught fire. The witnesses also reported smelling alcohol on him.
Steele submitted to a blood draw and was taken to Columbus Regional Hospital. He was formally charged on March 22 with two misdemeanors for operating a vehicle while intoxicated.
<strong>Driver 50 mph over limit charged with drug possession</strong>
Police stopped a 28-year-old Kentucky man on March 7 after clocking him driving more than 50 mph over the speed limit.
Brown County Sheriff’s Deputy Josh Stargell clocked Amos Bonner Jr. in the 200 block of State Road 46 West and attempted to stop the vehicle. When he passed the intersection of 46 West and Sam’s Hill Road, Stargell reported seeing a cloud of dust, the probable cause affidavit states.
Stargell continued on, but could not find the vehicle. When he turned around, he found it sitting in a driveway on Sams Hill Road with a man standing outside it about to get back in, the affidavit states.
When Stargell activated his emergency lights, Bonner exited the vehicle and told him he had marijuana on him. He handed it to Stargell. Dispatch also reported Bonner’s license was suspended. He told Stargell he was on his way to a hotel in Bloomington from Louisville.
Stargell issued Bonner a summons for possession. He was also cited for speeding and driving while suspended. Bonner was formally charged on March 29 with three misdemeanors for possession of marijuana, driving while suspended and reckless driving.
<strong>Police: Driver had marijuana, paraphernalia in vehicle</strong>
Police reported finding marijuana and paraphernalia in a vehicle that was stopped for speeding on Feb. 24.
Nashville Police Patrolman Billy Bryant stopped Charles Heitz, 50, of Jeffersonville, after clocking him driving 68 mph in a 50 mph zone. Bryant reported smelling marijuana on him. Heitz told police there was a plastic container in his backseat with marijuana inside.
Bryant also found a glass pipe and a rolled marijuana cigarette that had been smoked in the driver’s side door, the probable cause affidavit states.
Heitz was citied for speeding, then received a summons for possession of marijuana and paraphernalia before being released from the scene. He was formally charged on March 22 with two misdemeanors.
<strong>Driver stopped for following too closely; charges filed</strong>
Police stopped a 27-year-old Osgood man on March 3 for following the vehicle in front of him too closely and reported finding marijuana wax in his car.
William Higgins was stopped just before 4:30 p.m. at the Speedway gas station. When Nashville Police Patrolman Billy Bryant asked if there was anything illegal in his vehicle, Higgins hesitated when asked about marijuana. He told police he had marijuana wax and a pipe, the report said.
An open bottle of alcohol also was found in the vehicle, but Higgins did not show any signs of impairment, the report said.
Higgins was released from the scene with a summons for possession of marijuana and paraphernalia. He was formally charged with two misdemeanors on March 29.
