A traffic stop in North Judson on Thursday led to the arrest of two Illinois residents on drug charges.
North Judson K9 officer Scott Beishuisen performed a traffic stop on a vehicle in the area of Luken and Sycamore Streets. K9 Gunner was deployed to conduct a free air sniff of the vehicle and indicated the presence of narcotics, according to a news release. A search of the vehicle reportedly uncovered narcotics.
A Winamac man was arrested Friday after a short pursuit with a North Judson police officer.
An officer was called to the Route 10 Bar and Grill shortly after 11 p.m. CT after a call came in about a hit and run accident. A subject reportedly hit a parked vehicle in the parking lot and fled the scene. The responding officer noticed a vehicle traveling south of State Road 39 shortly after the call was made. The officer followed the vehicle that crossed the center line and the fog line, according to a news release.
A Knox native is the latest full-time addition to the North Judson Police Department. The town council recently approved the hiring of Officer Brack Rowe. He’s a graduate of the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy and lives in Starke County with his wife and two children. Continue reading
Officers from the North Judson Police Department warn residents that scams are making the rounds.
Several complaints have been made about a caller posing as a Social Security or an IRS worker looking for information and requesting account numbers. Police have also received information that people are posing as other county officers are calling residents asking for bail money for a loved one. Other calls have been reported involving a police detective looking for information about a warrant. If the resident puts up bail money immediately, then the arrest warrant would not be carried out.
North Judson police are looking for a suspect who made entry into the CVS store on Talmer Avenue on Saturday.
Officers responded to an alarm at the store in the early morning hours. When they arrived on scene within a minute of the notification, they found that entry had been made by way of the back storage area. The suspect(s) fled the area prior to the arrival of police. The building was cleared. No items were reported missing.
Two people were injured in an accident in North Judson on Monday afternoon.
Starke County Sheriff’s deputies responded to the intersection of County Road 625 South and County Road 300 West where they found that a vehicle had failed to yield to the right of way. The other vehicle was struck as it was traveling north through the intersection.
Starke County Prosecutor Nicholas Bourff recently purchased new interviewing equipment for the North Judson Police Department.
The recording equipment was purchased with Pretrial Diversion funds which are used at the discretion of the prosecutor to help local law enforcement.
North Judson Town Marshal Doug Vessely said the equipment was desperately needed and everything is running smoothly.
Officers from the North Judson Police Department, with the assistance of the Hobart K9 officers, conducted a drug sweep at the North Judson-San Pierre high school and at the middle school on Wednesday morning.
North Judson Town Marshal Doug Vessely told WKVI that there was nothing found during the sweep. The four K9 handlers and dogs checked lockers and vehicles and officers did not find any illegal substances. The K9s did indicate on a couple of items, but Vessely believes it was a passive result as no evidence was found.
A portable speed bump used by the Town of North Judson to slow traffic near the little league field on Weninger Street was stolen sometime over the weekend. Clerk-Treasurer Donna Henry says the town marshal’s office is investigating the theft. Each spring town officials place one near the park and another one on Ufkes Drive near the soccer field. Even though they are portable, they still have to be anchored into the pavement. Henry says the town got a quote of $675 to replace the speed bump. Anyone with information about the theft is asked to call 574-772-5914.
According to a report taken by an officer with the North Judson Police Department, a resident claimed she was contacted through Facebook of a person claiming to be in the military stationed in Afghanistan. The person asked for her bank account information so he could mail some money back home. Luckily, the transaction was voided before money could be taken from the bank account.
A new police officer is on the job in North Judson.
Porter County resident Nicholas Vanni is the latest full time officer at the North Judson Police Department. He had been working part-time for the department since the summer of 2013. He attended the police academy in early August and graduated from the Northwest Indiana Law Enforcement Academy in Hobart in November.
Town Marshal Doug Vessely stated that Vanni is looking forward to moving to the North Judson area in the near future. He’s familiar with the area with having visited family members who live in the Starke County town.
Officers responded to 77 accident calls, 128 animal calls, 786 citizen/business/house checks, 35 assault and battery calls, 95 drug and alcohol activity calls, 109 family and juvenile disturbance calls, 69 mischief and vandalism calls, 99 theft/conversion calls, conducted 673 traffic stops and responded to hundreds of various situations. In all, 3,499 calls were handled by the North Judson Police Department.
In other statistics from 2013, 232 total reports were written, 146 ordinance tickets were given to residents, 452 traffic warnings were given to motorists and 110 adults arrests were made.
For weekly information, visit the police reports section on www.wkvi.com.
A report of an underage drinking party at a home on Tribue Drive in Knox early Sunday morning resulted in 16 arrests for illegal possession of alcohol. Deputies from the Starke County Sheriff’s Office and officers from the North Judson and Knox Police Departments responded just before 2 a.m. In addition to the arrests, a 15-year-old was taken home and released into the custody of his or her parents, according to a news release from the Starke County Sheriff’s Department.
An official at the First Farmers Bank and Trust branch told WKVI that an automated message from an unknown source will call random citizens telling them that First Farmers Bank and Trust bought Bank of Indiana and debit cards need to be reactivated with the new bank.
A tense evening in North Judson ended with the arrest of a 48-year-old resident who is accused of firing shots inside his Talmer Avenue residence. Warren Chapman initially refused to surrender when officers from the North Judson Police Department arrived at his home, which is located just west of Brantwood’s and across the highway from the former NJ Foods store. Police Chief Doug Vessley requested assistance from the Starke and Pulaski County SWAT Team, and volunteer firefighters barricaded the streets in the surrounding area. When SWAT team members entered the home, Vessley says they found Chapman in the basement. He surrendered without incident and was taken to jail. Charges are pending.
A variety of items, including more than 35 bicycles, several stereo speakers, a few strands of wire, a few tools and a number of gasoline cans will be sold. Each bicycle will have a minimum price of $10.
The auction begins at 10 a.m. at the North Judson Police Station, where the items will be displayed in the back near the garage area.
Officers from the Starke County Traffic Safety Partnership are pleased with the outcome of a Friday sobriety checkpoint. They stopped 40 vehicles in North Judson at the intersection of Talmer and Schricker Avenues as part of an Operation Pull Over Blitz.
A North Judson man was arrested Thursday after allegedly attempting to steal items from a Medaryville store.
The owners of Twice is Nice told police that a woman was in the store paying for items when Dalton Campbell told her that he was going outside while she finishes with her purchase. While he was walking out, one of the owners noticed a sleeve from a garment for sale hanging out from the back of his jacket.
The North Judson Police Department responded to 3,899 calls in 2012.
Town Marshal Doug Vessely reported year-end statistics that showed 850 citizen assist and house check calls, 717 traffic stops, 27 battery reports, 12 Operating a Vehicle While Intoxicated reports, 7 burglary/robbery reports, 69 thefts/conversion reports, 15 alcohol/drug reports and 22 mischief/vandalism reports.
North Judson Officers made 107 adult arrests, wrote 136 ordinance violation tickets and issued 467 traffic warnings in 2012.
