Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office Responds to Weekend Meth Cases

Drug-related crimes kept Pulaski County Sheriff’s Deputies busy this past weekend, according to Sheriff Jeff Richwine. “They served some search warrants, found a pretty big meth house,” he told the county commissioners Monday. “There were like 13 what they call one-pot labs in there. It took the State Police drug team almost seven hours to clean that mess up, and they arrested one or two people out of that. And then they got another person up at Monterey that was definitely selling meth.”

Continue reading

Rochester Police Discover Massive Meth Operation

Meth BustPolice responding to a report that three men were attacking someone with a baseball bat Saturday morning in Rochester reportedly found evidence of an extensive meth-making operation next door to a preschool. Officers searched the home in the 900 block of Park Street and found what our reporting partners at WNDU-TV describe as an “extreme” amount of drugs along with seven dogs ranging in age from adults to puppies who appeared to be malnourished. Fulton County Animal Control removed the animals, and the Indiana State Police Clandestine Laboratory Team cleaned up the residence. Beverly Hite, Clifford Smith and Catherine Heiden all face charges stemming from the incident. The drug offenses are enhanced due to the location within 1,000 feet of a preschool. Additional charges are possible, as the investigation is continuing.

 

Marshall County meth suspects jailed without bond

Mary Perren

A Marshall County man and woman are jailed without bond after police found multiple meth labs in their Argos home. Officers with the Undercover Narcotics Investigation Team, Indiana State Police and Marshall County Sheriff’s Office arrested 43-year-old David Howe and 35-year-old Kristi Messick-Eswick, also known as Kristi Miller following a Monday search of their residence on Hickory Road. Their initial hearing in Marshall Superior Court is set for March 12. Anyone with information about illegal drug activity in Marshall County is urged to call the anonymous tip line at1-800-899-0842.

Meth Lab Found Behind Church in Knox

An officer from the Knox City Police Department was called to a meth lab dump site behind the Pentecostal Church on Wednesday.

Police arrived at the church at 509 S. Roosevelt Road in Knox were they met with a surveyor from Stephenson Land Surveying. The lab was not on the church grounds, but the surveyor said that he found a large tarp on the ground in the woods behind the church and saw footprints that led up to the tarp. The man thought a person was underneath the tarp and called out but received no answer. The surveyor then lifted up the tarp and saw items that are used in the manufacture of methamphetamine. He told police that another lab was found about 80 feet away under another tarp.

Continue reading

Three Star City Residents Arrested after Meth Lab is Found

Kaltrina Neely

Loralie Fritz

Billy Neely

Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department officers arrested three after finding an active meth lab at a residence in Star City.

Officers were contacted by a representative of Child Protective Services who received a complaint of a possible meth lab in a residence with a child present. CPS and officers arrived at the home of Kaltrina Neely and Greg Tarr and they interviewed Neely. While officers were at the residence, drug paraphernalia was reportedly found in cabinets where police could see it in plain sight. The evidence was later gathered by the Indiana State Police Clandestine Lab team. Upon further questioning, police learned that Kaltrina Neely, Billy Neely and Loralie Fritz allegedly admitted to smoking methamphetamine shortly before the police arrived at the residence. Kaltrina Neely allegedly told the CPS representative that they had been cooking meth at her residence. Neely gave officers consent to search the property where an active meth lab was reportedly found in the detached garage and a burn barrel. The Indiana State Police processed the scene and removed evidence of a meth lab.

Continue reading

Knox Man Arrested after Police Find Meth Lab in Car

Fred Boggess II

Fred Boggess II, 30, of Knox was arrested Friday, July 8th after Starke County Police found a meth lab in his vehicle.

Boggess was pulled over on a routine traffic stop on Toto Road and 100 East in Starke County and officers found an active meth lab. The Indiana State Police Clandestine Lab Team was called to the scene to clean up the scene. Boggess II was arrested on preliminary charges of Illegal Drug Lab, Manufacturing Meth, False Informing, Possession of Meth, Possession of Precursors, Driving While Suspended-Prior and Habitual Offender. He is in the Starke County Jail on a $25,000 surety bond.

Continue reading