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GPD search warrant results in eight arrests

Saturday, July 16, 2011
By ERIC BERNSEE Editor

Eight Putnam County residents, ranging in age from 19 to 31, were arrested early Friday after authorities executed a search warrant on an East Side Greencastle residence.

Using what they termed "reliable and trustworthy informants," the Greencastle City Police went to 1057-1/2 Avenue E, reportedly the residence of Jacob Neal Skinner, 28, and Barbara L. Hollingsworth, 31.

Police said they had an active arrest warrant on Skinner, which allowed them to obtain a search warrant for the residence.

With GPD Assistant Chief Brian Hopkins and Officer Darrel R. Bunten leading the investigation, the Greencastle Emergency Response Team (ERT) and members of the Plainfield ERT served the search warrant at 4:30 a.m., making the eight drug-related arrests without incident.

According to GPD reports, authorities "immediately detained" Skinner and Hollings-worth along with six associates also on the premises: Renee Lee Capps, 28, Kyle Anton Dobbs, 27, Cyle Duncan, 26, Jessica Bushong, 26, and Nicholas Boswell, 19, all of Greencastle; and Brian Winslow, 20, Fillmore.

In the process of executing the warrant, Greencastle Police Chief Tom Sutherlin said investigators reportedly found "in plain view" such drug-related items as syringes, small bags of a crystallized substance consistent with methamphetamine and a spoon with burnt residue.

Also discovered inside the home were "items used as tourniquets to inject methamphetamine."

All eight suspects were taken to Putnam County Jail and held on the following preliminary charges, pending review by the Putnam County Prosecutor's Office:

Skinner -- Possession of a syringe, maintaining a common nuisance.

Hollingsworth -- Maintaining a common nuisance.

Capps and Winslow -- Possession of paraphernalia, visiting a common nuisance.

Duncan -- Probation violation, visiting a common nuisance.

Dobbs, Bushong and Boswell -- Visiting a common nuisance.

Ten hours after their arrest, Duncan, Boswell and Winslow reportedly were still considered too intoxicated to be officially booked into the jail, authorities said.

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  • A parents worst nightmare has materialized.

    -- Posted by Xgamer on Sat, Jul 16, 2011, at 6:31 AM

  • Agreed.

    I thought our Prosecutor had all but

    'Stopped Meth.' Eh... guess not.

    Great cooperative effort between Greencastle & Plainfield though.

    -- Posted by ProblemTransmission on Sat, Jul 16, 2011, at 6:56 AM

  • Job well done! As we were reminded with the recent tragic line of duty death in Terre Haute, theirs is a very dangerous business. Thank you for all you do and so grateful all of you got to go home at the end of the shift.

    -- Posted by Geologist on Sat, Jul 16, 2011, at 7:34 AM

  • Good job to out there men. Keep up the good work and stay safe. Oh, and a big THANK YOU.

    -- Posted by mad-mom on Sat, Jul 16, 2011, at 8:14 AM

  • Yeah, but didnt that Capps girl just get busted for a bunch of drug related stuff a month or so ago. Her family should be very worried. And she has children too. I for one think the poice did a fine job, keep it up.

    -- Posted by dcsaiht on Sat, Jul 16, 2011, at 8:46 AM

  • Great job! The Meth use in this town has gotten out of control. It does nothing but ruin peoples lives and their childrens. Meth users lose everything they have (including their teeth) in order to get the drug and they are left with nothing and their children suffer because of it. Keep it up.

    -- Posted by familylover on Sat, Jul 16, 2011, at 10:08 AM

  • Why did the Plainfield ERT unit come and not a local ERT?

    -- Posted by purple_heat on Sat, Jul 16, 2011, at 10:56 AM

  • GOOD JOB GREENASTLE POLICE DEPARTMENT....

    -- Posted by Michele1953 on Sat, Jul 16, 2011, at 11:02 AM

  • The Greencastle ERT team DID respond with assistance from Plainfield. Both agencies train together and have forged a solid working relationship. I am sure if tables were turned Hopkins and his ERT boys would assist Plainfield. Kudos to City Administration for being progressive and allowing this collaboration to exist. Now...how about balancing the PD with some female resources ???

    -- Posted by Seagullslim on Sat, Jul 16, 2011, at 1:06 PM

  • Keep it up!

    -- Posted by GRNT on Sat, Jul 16, 2011, at 3:30 PM

  • "visiting a common nuisance" I really don't understand this charge. I am not trying to bash police efforts or anything like that but this sounds like a b.s. charge. I understand they were not in the best of company but seriously, I could be charged with that everytime I go to a family reunion(that was a poor joke but a joke none the less). Can anyone give me a good explaination of this charge? I am honestly curious.

    -- Posted by worrieddaddy on Sat, Jul 16, 2011, at 9:30 PM

  • Found online:

    Indiana has a law prohibiting being at a place where illegal activities are going on. This law permits the arrest and conviction of someone who is not actively engaged in any otherwise illegal conduct (I've had clients who were sleeping upon arrest for this), but there is illegal activity going in the place where they are.

    ***

    The crime is called visiting a common nuisance, and is defined by I.C. § 35-48-4-13(a), as: "[a] person who knowingly or intentionally visits a building, structure, vehicle, or other place that is used by any person to unlawfully use a controlled substance commits visiting a common nuisance, a Class B misdemeanor."

    -- Posted by bannerreader on Sun, Jul 17, 2011, at 4:35 AM

  • I must agree with everyone Good Job and keep up the good work! I know first hand what meth can and will do to a person and their families! I also find it very hard to believe these other people were not involved in this illegal activity!

    -- Posted by ithappens33 on Sun, Jul 17, 2011, at 9:38 PM

  • Good job GPD !!!

    -- Posted by Engineer1 on Mon, Jul 18, 2011, at 9:58 PM

  • Great job by the police departments. If you look at the scanner the Capps girl was just arrested only a couple of weeks ago for several possession charges. Would think she would be out on bond? Did this not violate her bond? Why is she just getting charged with possession and visiting charges?

    -- Posted by Peacegirl on Tue, Jul 19, 2011, at 10:51 AM

  • Wasn't it Kyle Dobbs who was arrested back in May for being passed out under a truck with drugs on him? I thought that name sounded familiar

    -- Posted by amkedu on Tue, Jul 19, 2011, at 1:08 PM

  • Yes it was Dobbs they found under the truck. Skinner was also arrested on June 10th on Possesion of Marijuana and Paraphanelia. And the guy who was with him was caught with meth. Meth cases between April - July so far: at least 10, compared to the 7 that Bookwalter boasted about last year. 10 in 4 months!(source this site!)

    -- Posted by nojobs on Wed, Jul 20, 2011, at 12:19 AM

  • I believe the Duncan guy just got out of prison (& is on parole) for meth.

    Stop Meth?

    Hardly.

    -- Posted by ProblemTransmission on Wed, Jul 20, 2011, at 1:20 AM

  • Some of these are the same people that have been arrested over and over and still able to walk among our children and live beside us. They have been proven to be theives and drug people and yet they are free to do whatever they please. Our court system allows them to test postive for cocaine and other drugs and then hands them their childrn to raise. I have been watching this happen for so long that I really don`t believe our prosecutor or judges are interested in the truth. The very people that our courts are truly protecting are the ones in trouble. After all, the common man doesn`t get his day in court to tell what he knows and sees And who would believe him anyway, we don`t hire lawyers to make the court system listem to us. We work for our livings and these people sell drugs or the items they steal to pay for expensive lawyers to get them off yet one more time. Has the Putnam County legal system ever thought of opening the communication line between the everyday man and themselves to hear what we can tell them/ after all, you force us to live besides these thieves and drug people because you don`t take them off the streets. I once sat in court and heard a judge ask a released meth dealer how he was able to stop using and he replyed that being in prison helped him. This was just seconds after he had testified for his friend who the court had found tested postive for cocaine. And, yes that friend was able to retain custody of her children even though the father was negative. I wonder if the judge ever thinks how those same children are living today with the drinking and drugs that go on in the same house they live in with both these people.

    -- Posted by nooneseems to care on Thu, Jul 21, 2011, at 8:08 AM

  • I agree with "nooneseems to care." If you live in a neighborhood with these known users you always wait for the drama, Screaming at each other early in the morning, endless various cars parked in front of their rental/house. Wondering how safe my family is going to be. Stuff is missing once in a while from around outside my house and garage. Everything needs to be locked all the time. I won't let the kids be out in the yard when they are home, because of their foul language and and their unpredictable behavior! I don't know what the answer is but if we want to decrease the drug activity that seeps down from the adults to the kids in school. There does seem to be a higher tolerance in this community for drug use across all ages. If as a community we want this to change then the courts need to send the message Greencastle does not tolerate the drug culture we have now.

    -- Posted by LitNup on Thu, Jul 21, 2011, at 12:52 PM

  • The article reads that 10 hours after their arrests Duncan, Boswell and Winslow were still considered too intoxicated to be booked into jail however Duncan only charged with Probation violation and visiting a common nuisance, Boswell only charged with visiting a common nuisance and Winslow charged with Possession of paraphernalia and visiting a common nuisance. My question is if they were still to intoxicated to be booked into jail then how were they not actively involved in the illegal conduct? If by intoxicated you mean from alcohol then shouldn't have two of them been charged with minor in consumption and someone been charged contributing to a minor? I do want to say good job to all of those involved with the arrests and thank you for trying to make our town a safer place to raise our kids. I guess I am just confused on the charges but Thank You!!

    -- Posted by mom just wondering on Thu, Aug 4, 2011, at 12:23 AM

  • well actually nobody ever said that those other people were or were not involved in illegal activity but obviously they got caught in a place where there was illegal activity so thats what they are getting charged for. i agree with "both sides" maybe if there was more focus on a variety of things instead of pin pointing those groups of people that they continue to constantly watch and try to get for every little thing maybe they could try to get some help and maybe some of these others that walk free just because they give names could actually spend a little time in the jail instead of taking the easy way out. i agree that people know what they are doing but greencastle is full of meth anymore cuz people think there is nothing better to do than what everyone else is doing maybe if the prosecutor and judge want to get rid of meth so bad stop putting people in jail for it cuz there is always going to be more people out here doing it and they should come up with a program or something for meth addicts to help them get out of that life. just saying ive seen it all before and a majority of the people that get addicted to meth realize that they have messed up and just want a helping hand or two its not as easy as one would think. nobody is perfect some people just dont have the guidance that others do. thank u!

    -- Posted by gcmom4 on Tue, Aug 9, 2011, at 3:32 AM

  • well i personally know all of the men and women involve some of them are family and just because they are accused of selling drugs doesnt make them bad people so why is everyone judging them without even know them or never have you had the time to land an opinion of them? and if the police saw baggies with a crystal substance that was consistant with meth why isnt anyone charged with it. and skinner takes a supplement called vitamin B12 which is injected in the butt. I LOVE JESSICA JAKE AND OF COURSE JAMES BROWN!!

    -- Posted by ~Solid*325*Sweets~ on Fri, Sep 16, 2011, at 7:04 PM
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