Seven arrested in two GPD cases sparked by callers' tips

Two separate Thursday night incidents, spawned by somewhat innocuous calls to Greencastle police, have resulted in the arrest of seven area residents on a variety of charges.

The first incident began with a 6:15 p.m. call about a suspicious vehicle reportedly parked in a driveway along East Walnut Street and ended with the arrest of three subjects.

The second, apparently unrelated incident began with a 9:24 p.m. call requesting police make a welfare check on a child at 1218 Castlebury Apartments and concluded with the arrest of four people.

Initially, Greencastle City Police Capt. Chris Jones responded to the 6:15 p.m. East Walnut Street complaint, finding Elmer Eugene Burnett, 52, Fillmore, walking in the backyard of an East Washington Street residence.

Burnett had reportedly left his truck earlier and walked over to a Ford Ranger truck parked in front of another nearby residence, displaying a handgun in the process, police said.

Capt. Jones tracked down the occupant of the second truck, Steven Michael Weldon Jr., 28, Coatesville, at an apartment at 726 E. Washington St., receiving his permission to search the truck, which Weldon said belonged to his father.

A positive hit on the truck by a police K9 resulted in the discovery of three syringes, two muzzleloader rifles and a number of items routinely used in the manufacture of the drug methamphetamine, GPD officials reported.

Authorities then secured a search warrant, which was served on the Washington Street apartment of Tonya Redding, 46, who was not taken into custody and was allowed to stay in the residence.

At 12:58 a.m., Capt. Jones was joined by fellow GPD Officers Eric Vaughan and Kyle Lee and Putnam Sheriff's Department Deputies T.J. Smith, Philip Troyer and Kyle Gibbons and Reserve Deputies Nate O'Hair and Andrew Fenwick in serving the search warrant that subsequently resulted in the arrest of Meridith Rhea Price, 24, Terre Haute.

Arrested in that initial case were:

-- Burnett, who was arrested at 6:30 p.m. and lodged in the Putnam County Jail on charges of possession of methamphetamine and possession of a handgun without a permit.

-- Weldon, who was arrested nearly 90 minutes later, at 7:58 p.m., and lodged in the jail for possession of syringes (three).

-- Price, who was arrested at 1:26 a.m. Friday for possession of syringes (eight) and possession of a controlled substance (Xanax).

Meanwhile, although not arrested, Redding is expected to be charged with reckless possession of paraphernalia, Capt. Jones noted in his incident report.

In the second incident that began at 9:24 p.m., Officer Lee was joined by Officer Vaughan, Deputy Troyer and Reserve Deputy Fenwick in responding to the welfare check on a child at Castlebury Apartments.

The child ended up not being at the apartment, police said, but that didn't stop authorities from discovering signs of criminal activity there.

Resident Haley Dawn Whitaker, 19, Greencastle, reportedly gave officers consent to search the premises, which ultimately resulted in four arrests. They were:

-- Whitaker, who was arrested on charges of possession of paraphernalia and maintaining a common nuisance. She was lodged in the Putnam County Jail.

-- Shane Allen Willey, 23, Cloverdale, who was lodged in the jail for possession of syringes (two).

-- Jared Hornaday, 24, Fillmore, who was lodged in the jail for possession of syringes (four) and probation violation.

-- John Ryan Sanders, 30, Greencastle, who was reportedly found by Officer Lee hiding in the apartment because he was wanted on a Putnam County warrant for probation violation. He was lodged in the jail on that charge.