Starke County Commissioners Approve Use of Force Policy for Community Corrections

  
 

Starke County Community Corrections officers who choose to undergo initial and continuing education training can carry firearms on duty after action Monday by the Starke County Commissioners. Program Coordinator Shawn Mattraw says the community corrections board approved a use of force policy, which was also reviewed by county attorney Marty Lucas.

Continue reading

Traffic Stop Leads to Drug Arrest

 
 

A passenger in a vehicle that was stopped because it did not have a windshield ended up taking a ride in a police car. Starke County Sheriff’s Office Chief Detective Rob Olejniczak pulled over a vehicle driven by 34-year-old Shannon Watts of North Judson on 500 North at 750 East in Hamlet on Wednesday, May 26, according to a news release. Continue reading

Animal Abuse Investigation Ongoing

Horses 2The Starke County Prosecutor’s Office is still investigating a case involving several animals. The incident occurred earlier this month in the area of 200 South and 550 North in Starke County. According to a press release from the Sheriff’s Department, officers were called to investigate a report that horses had escaped from their enclosure. Continue reading

Tip Leads to Meth Arrest

Meth BustStarke County Sheriff’s Deputies responding to a tip about possible drug activity made an arrest Sunday morning. They got a report around 10:45 a.m. of a man in a woods with a rifle and a strong chemical odor nearby. Officers found a burnt methamphetamine lab in the woods, according to a news release, and items used to make meth. Continue reading

Starke County Investigators Find Two Meth Labs, Suspect At Large

 
 

Investigators from the Starke County Sheriff’s Office are looking for a Knox man they believe was was making meth in his basement. They responded to a home in the 3000 east block of 200 South in Knox on Tuesday, May 5 after another man found a meth lab in the basement and called the police. Deputies from the Starke County Sheriff’s Office found the lab, precursors used to make meth, syringes and marijuana but were unable to locate the suspected cook, according to a news release. He’s identified as James Messer, 34, of Knox. Continue reading

Knox Board of Public Works Approves Loan of K9 Kennel

 The Starke County Sheriff’s Office will have a vehicle kennel for another K9 when the time comes to purchase another dog.

The Knox Board of Public Works agreed to loan the city-owned kennel to the county to help reduce the county’s costs toward another K9 unit. Mayor Rick Chambers explained that the Knox City Police Department no longer has a K9 unit and had the kennel in storage. Sheriff Bill Dulin requested the use of the kennel and the request was granted Wednesday morning.

Continue reading

Formal Charges Filed in Alleged Criminal Confinement Incidents

Benny Giselbach
Benny Giselbach

Formal charges have been filed against a Knox man accused of handcuffing, shackling and water boarding a woman at his Bass Lake area home. Employees at Bass Lake Pub and Ristorante called 911 after the woman showed up there early last Wednesday afternoon and told them she had managed to escape. Benny Giselbach was arrested nearby by deputies from the Starke County Sheriff’s Office after a multi-agency manhunt. Continue reading

Starke County Rolls Out Inmate Work Crew

Inmate Work Crew DetailInmates from the Starke County Jail are picking up trash today east of Knox. Sheriff Bill Dulin says four low-level offenders are out under the supervision of a jail officer. Orange signs along Culver Road indicate an inmate work crew is in the area and caution motorists to slow down. Crews from the Starke County Highway Department will pick up bagged trash collected by the inmates.

Domestic Violence Suspect Arrested Following Manhunt

Benny Giselbach
Benny Giselbach

A Knox man faces several new felony charges following a Wednesday manhunt in the Bass Lake area. It started around 12:20 p.m. when the Starke County 911 center got a call from the Bass Lake Pub. The caller told the dispatcher a woman showed up there in handcuffs and shackles saying she had been held hostage and “water boarded.” The victim told deputies she lived across the street and had fled her home on foot. Continue reading