Local News
Meth bust nets 3 suspects
Lebanon ¡X Lebanon Police found an unexpected gift Tuesday stashed among Christmas presents at a South Street home: A working meth lab.
The find has since netted one arrest and two arrest warrants, and LPD is continuing its investigation.
Arrested Wednesday was Bernice Rood, 51, 610 E. South St., which is where police discovered the meth lab. She is in Boone County Jail on a $50,000 bond.
Rood faces probation violation charges stemming from Tuesday¡¦s incident. Department of Family and Children officials removed three children - ages 6, 4 and 2 - from the home and placed them with family members, said LPD public information officer Lt. Brent Wheat.
Police believe Rood is not the biological mother of any of the children and may have been babysitting. The 4-year-old child tested positive for meth in his system, but without any apparent affects.
¡§It was present in (the child¡¦s) system, but the child was not under the influence,¡¨ Wheat said. ¡§It¡¦s hard telling at what point the child ingested the meth.¡¨
Officials issued arrest warrants Thursday for two other suspects:
ƒÞƒnJeremiah P. Fearrin, 25, 322 E. Superior St., Lebanon, charged with dealing in methamphetamine, a class B felony, and three counts of neglect of a dependent, a class D felony;
ƒÞƒnHarold B. Harris, 21, 8375 N. Burg Avenue, Kirklin, charged with dealing in methamphetamine, a class B felony, and possession of methamphetamine, a class D felony. Police arrested Harris Tuesday on a warrant not associated with the meth lab bust.
Rood, Fearrin and Harris were all at the home sometime on Tuesday, Wheat said
The initial home visit started with a call to the Indiana Department of Family and Children that the children were around drug activity, Wheat said. Officers saw equipment that is consistent with meth production, he said. They obtained a search warrant to conduct a thorough investigation.
They discovered the meth lab in the basement behind some Christmas presents, said Wheat, adding that the lab was ¡§cooking¡¨ or producing meth when police found it.
Following protocol, officers left the house and called the Indiana State Police Clandestine Laboratory Team, who verified the finding as a meth lab and dismantled it. Responding Tuesday from LPD were Deputy Chief Sam Myers, J.D. Warmoth, Jeff Nelson, Scott Hood and Tony Bayles.
Tuesday¡¦s case is believed to be Lebanon¡¦s first meth lab bust in 2005.
Meth has been a recurring problem in Boone County in recent years. While LPD has no technicians trained to dismantle meth labs, Wheat said officers have a ¡§high level of training¡¨ in dealing with meth problems.
¡§We¡¦ve all had some level of training because it¡¦s such a prevalent problem,¡¨ he said.
- Local News
-
-
Boone County 4-H program honors 10-year members
Boone County 4-H 10-year members were recognized during a special program in the Witham Health Services Pavilion at the Boone County 4-H Fairgrounds Wednesday.
-
Grand champ lamb goes for $11,000
After bids for Samuel Mattingly’s grand champion market lamb languished in the low four figures for several minutes at Thursday’s Boone County 4-H Fair Livestock Auction, someone on the right side of the floor at the Witham Health Services Pavilion decided it was time to speed things along.
-
Local celebrities race for Kiwanis Saturday
Ten celebrity racers were signed up to race in the Lebanon Kiwanis Grand Prix as of Wednesday, but Donna Boyland of the Kiwanis is expecting several more to sign up before Saturday’s big race.
-
Taken by surprise
After hours of working with a menagerie of animals in front of a series of judges, it took Austin Chandler an extra moment to realize that it was his name announced as the 2010 Boone County 4-H Supreme Showmanship Contest winner.
-
Kise fire victims need help moving
Some residents of apartments destroyed in a fire Sunday at Kise Estates, in the 1900 block of Lafayette Avenue, have been told they must move out by tomorrow, and they have encountered an unusual problem — a shortage of rental trucks and trailers.
-
Gentry, Chandler tops at swine show
Stephen Gentry and Austin Chandler took top honors at the 2010 Boone County 4-H swine show Tuesday at the Boone County 4-H Fairgrounds.
-
Nicley done, redux
The 2010 4-H dairy show started without a hitch Monday afternoon, and it ended rather Nicley.
-
Poultry project popularity growing
Tuesday marked the largest poultry show ever at the Boone County 4-H Fair, said project leader Doug Akers. More than 300 birds were entered by 80 members.
-
LFD’s third station to open in spring
Construction of a $2.25 million public safety building on Hall-Baker Road should begin this September, with completion next spring.
-
Park pool hours will change next month
Hours of operation are changing at the Memorial Park Pool.
- More Local News Headlines
-
