Warsaw police responded to an emergency call at the Wilby’s gas station last week, which resulted in the arrest of three Kosciusko County residents on drug-related charges.
Tara Rayne McClone, 35, and Blake Edward Bradford, 28, both of 1710 Tippecanoe Drive, Apt. B, Warsaw, were booked in the Kosciusko County Jail Thursday for maintaining a common nuisance, possession of a hypodermic syringe or needle, and possession of methamphetamine, all level 6 felonies.
Thursday morning, law enforcement officers from the Warsaw Police Department responded to a call regarding a woman requesting medical attention. The female was taken to Kosciusko Community Hospital for medical treatment, according to a probable cause affidavit from the Kosciusko County Prosecutor’s Office.
Officer R.J. Nethaway spoke with the female while at KCH and she advised she had walked from 1710 Tippecanoe Drive, Apt. B, Warsaw, to Wilby’s. She advised she ingested a drug she believed to be methamphetamine and she didn’t feel right. She told Nethaway the substance made her feel like her body was on fire. The woman further advised the apartment she had been in was rented to a female with the first name of Tara.
WPD Detective Lt. Paul Heaton went to 1710 Tippecanoe Drive and knocked on the door marked Apartment B. The door was opened by a male and police immediately observed an abundance of hypodermic needles located just inside the door in a plastic grocery bag. Officers also witnessed corner baggies on the counter, along with several more needles on the kitchen counter. The male that originally opened the door tried to close the door slightly to block the officers’ view into the apartment, the affidavit states.
Officers observed another male, later identified as Bradford, walk toward the counter where the paraphernalia was lying in an attempt to block the officers’ view. When the officers tried to walk into the apartment to preserve any possible evidence from being destroyed, the male greeter stepped in front of the door in an attempt to deny access.
Heaton and Nethaway made entry into the apartment and cleared the residence for additional occupants. Nethaway located McClone and Terry Sabo in a bedroom. While waiting for additional officers, the male that originally opened the door for police made a comment about how the bags they had observed had been scrapped clean and there were no drugs in the residence, according to the affidavit.
Nethaway read McClone the Miranda warning and waiver, at which time she stated she understood her rights and agreed to speak with officers both verbally and with her signature. McClone also was read the consent to search her residence, which she denied, but stated anything inside the residence belonged to her. Nethaway asked her if she injects with needles and she stated it had been approximately two months since she had used a needle. She also advised when she went to bed the night before her apartment had been completely clean.
Officers obtained a search warrant for McClone’s residence, which was served. In the kitchen, officers found a plastic bag that contained a white powdery substance, a bottle cap with a piece of cotton, foil with burnt residue and multiple hypodermic syringes. The powder and piece of cotton both tested field positive for methamphetamine. On a shelf in the hallway, officers found a hypodermic needle loaded with a cloudy liquid. Beside the front door, officers located a grocery bag that contained two syringes, three clear plastic bags with the bottoms cut off and a corner bag with white residue, a common way of packaging methamphetamine, the affidavit states.
Heaton spoke with McClone who advised all illegal drugs in the home belonged to her and she was never going to stop using drugs. She admitted to injected methamphetamine, but her preference is to smoke it, according to the affidavit.
Heaton spoke with Sabo who advised he was aware of the drug activity inside the McClone residence. Sabo was arrested and booked into the Kosciusko County Jail Thursday for visiting a common nuisance, a class B misdemeanor.
Bradford, McClone and Sabo were all being held on $5,250 bonds.
