Deputy Mark Helms; Photo courtesy of Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Dept.
Bartholomew County officials have established the Bartholomew County Fatal Alcohol Crash Team (F.A.C.T.). The team was put together to investigate all vehicular traffic crashes in the county involving fatal and/or serious bodily injury, as deemed necessary by the investigating agency. The team will be activated for an incident in which impairment is believed to be involved.
The agencies that comprise the Bartholomew County Fatal Alcohol Crash Team are: Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Office, Indiana State Police, Department of Natural Resources, Columbus Police Department, Columbus Fire Department, Dispatch, Bartholomew County Coroner’s Office and the Bartholomew County Prosecutor’s Office. All eight agencies will work together as one unit.
The Team leader is BCSO Deputy Mark Helms, a retired ISP Trooper, who is a crash re-constructionist specialist in both the private and public sectors. Helms previously served as the Lead Instructor in Crash Investigations for the Indiana State Police Recruit Academy as well as the Indiana University Police Academy.
Caneesha Ellis; Photo courtesy of ISPKannon Ellis; Photo courtesy of ISP
A Statewide Silver Alert has been declared.
The Crown Point Police Department is investigating the disappearance of Caneesha Ellis, a 16 year old black female, 5 feet 5 inches tall, 180 pounds, black hair with brown eyes. Also, missing is her 7 month old son Kannon Ellis. Kannon is 27 inches tall, 18 pounds, black hair with brown eyes, last seen wearing a grey fuzzy bear snowsuit.
Kannon and Caneesha are missing from Crown Point, Indiana which is 138 miles northwest of Indianapolis and was last seen on Tuesday, January 21, 2020. They are believed to be in danger and may require medical assistance.
If you have any information on Kannon and Caneesha Ellis, contact the Crown Point Police Department at 219-660-0000 or 911.
A healthy newborn was placed inside the Safe Haven Baby Box at Seymour Fire Station 3 on Thursday afternoon.
“The Tribune” is reporting that Seymour Fire Department personnel were notified by an alarm at 1:30 p.m that the infant was placed in the box at the station at 605 Meadowbrook Drive. The baby girl was retrieved within one minute. The little girl was the first newborn to be surrendered in Seymour’s baby box. The paper says that the baby was taken to Schneck Medical Center and is doing well.
Indiana’s Safe Haven Law allows people to take newborn babies to any hospital emergency room, police station or fire station without any questions asked and no risk of arrest or prosecution.
Columbus has been ranked as the number one small city where manufacturing is thriving. That’s according to a new study from business insurance provider AdvisorSmith.
According to the report, Columbus had manufacturing output of $4.0 billion in 2018, which was $48,799 per capita, compared with a national average of $7,032. The city has 350% more manufacturing jobs than the national average on a per-capita basis, and had a manufacturing output growth rate of 3.6% during the study period. Manufacturing employment also grew 1.5% over the same period. Columbus is one of the biggest manufacturing cities in the nation, as 38% of the people who work in Columbus work in the manufacturing industry. In addition, Columbus ranked #2 among cities of all sizes.
AdvisorSmith analyzed cities based upon data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Census Bureau, and the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The study ranked cities based upon their manufacturing output per capita, manufacturing employment, and other factors.
Two members of the Indiana State Police with Bartholomew County ties have been promoted.
The Superintendent of the Indiana State Police, Douglas G. Carter, has announced the promotion of Captain Larry D. Jenkins to the rank of Major. Maj. Jenkins will serve as the Assistant Chief of Staff Communications and Information Systems, and will oversee the Regional Dispatch Centers, Indiana Criminal History Repository, Indiana Data and Communication System, and the Indiana Vehicle Crash Records Program as well as all advise on all information technology needs for the department.
Jenkins, who is originally from Mitchell, Indiana, is a 1986 graduate of Mitchell High School. He earned his Bachelor Degree in Psychology from Franklin College. Jenkins graduated from the Indiana State Police Recruit Academy in 1991 and was appointed as a Trooper and assigned to the Indiana State Police Post in Indianapolis.
In 1999, Jenkins transferred to the State Police Post in Seymour and patrolled Bartholomew County. In 2004, he was promoted to the rank of Sergeant and served as a computer generalist with the Information Technology Section of the Criminal Justice Data Division. In 2007 Jenkins was promoted to the rank of First Sergeant and given command the Information Technology Section.
In 2014, Jenkins was promoted to the rank of Captain, and he served as Commander of the Criminal Justice Data Division until this recent promotion.
Jenkins and his family live in Bartholomew County.
Captain Robert D. Simpson; Photo courtesy of ISP
Also promoted was First Sergeant Robert D. Simpson to the rank of Captain. Capt. Simpson will serve as the Criminal Justice Data Division Commander overseeing the State Firearms License Unit, Indiana Criminal History Repository, the Indiana Vehicle Crash Records Program and the Indiana Data and Communications System, as well all information technology needs for the department.
Simpson, who is originally from Columbus, is a 1984 graduate of Columbus North High School and earned his Associates Degree in Criminal Justice from Vincennes University in 1986. Simpson graduated from the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy in March of 1991 and served with the Columbus Police Department until 1999.
In 2001, Simpson graduated from the Indiana State Police Recruit Academy and was appointed as a Trooper assigned to the State Police Post in Indianapolis. In 2003, Simpson transferred to the State Police Post in Seymour, patrolling Jackson and Bartholomew County. In 2005, he was promoted to Detective at the Seymour Post specializing in Child Crimes.
In 2008, Simpson was selected to serve with the FBI as a Task Force Officer with the FBI Cyber Crimes Division and in 2010, he was transferred to the Technical Services Unit specializing in technical investigations. In 2015, Simpson was promoted to First Sergeant in the Criminal Justice Data Division where he served as Assistant Commander in the Information Technology Section. In April of 2018, Simpson graduated from the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Virginia.
A Columbus police car is a wreck after an incident this morning involving an unknown driver.
Police are looking for information on the man who stole a silver Volkswagen Jetta and then crashed it into a police car before fleeing the scene early this morning.
Officers were investigating a suspicious person report at about 6:45 a.m. on Brookside Court. A man had been knocking on doors in the neighborhood. When officers spotted the Volkswagen, they stopped the car and the driver got out to speak to police.
That’s when a passenger jumped into the driver’s seat and took off, crashing into the patrol car that was unoccupied at the time. The driver then fled the subdivision, leaving behind the crumpled police car.
The stolen car then sped recklessly up Jonesville Road, despite heavy front-end damage and having no working headlights. Because of the heavy morning traffic at the construction area around State Road 46 and State Road 11, police called off the chase.
Police are looking for any information on the stolen vehicle and its driver. If you have a tip, you can call the department at (812) 376-2600. Tips and information can be submitted anonymously.
Photo courtesy of Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department.
A suspect in a Bartholomew County traffic stop, allegedly dropped a baggie of methamphetamine when he got out of the vehicle to talk with deputies.
Ronnie Lee Richardson; Photo courtesy of Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Dept.
The Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department is reporting that a vehicle was stopped at about 8:43 p.m. Tuesday night in the 900 block of North Dellasburg Road. A police dog alerted to the odor of narcotics coming from inside the vehicle.
Photo courtesy of Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department.
The driver, 47-year-old Ronnie Richardson of Columbus got out of the vehicle and a small white baggie fell to the ground containing what police believe is methamphetamine. A search found Richardson was carrying four other similar bags. A search of the vehicle also recovered a small amount of marijuana and and drug paraphernalia.
Richardson was arrested on preliminary charges of:
Christopher M. Hubbert. Photo courtesy of Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department.
Bartholomew County’s Joint Narcotics Enforcement Team arrested a Columbus man recently as part of an ongoing investigation into methamphetamine dealing in the community.
The Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department reports that the JNET team was assisted by the community intelligence led policing unit in serving arrest warrants at about 5:30 p.m. on Jan. 17th on 40-year-old Christopher Hubbert.
Hubbert was found to be carrying additional narcotics and paraphernalia and is facing new charges including:
Three counts of dealing methamphetamine
Possession of methamphetamine
Possession of paraphernalia
A court order
Two Bartholomew County Warrants
His bond was set at $1.8 million.
The Joint Narcotics Enforcement Team is a combined unit of the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Office, the Columbus Police Department, and the Bartholomew County Prosecutor’s Office. targeting the manufacturing and abuse of dangerous drugs in Columbus and Bartholomew County.
Now that the Bartholomew Consolidated School Board has approved a referendum to address teacher and staff pay, the school district will begin making its case to the public.
The referendum would add just over 15 and a half cents per $100 to local property taxes. School officials estimate that the proposal would add $7 dollars and 79 cents a month to the property taxes of the average home owner in the district. Nearly 87 percent of the new revenue would go to add pay boosts for teachers and support staff, with the remaining 13 percent going to school security measures.
The issue will appear on the May primary election ballot.
We talked recently with Dr. Jim Roberts, superintendent of the school district on the restrictions the school administration faces in making those points to the public.
Roberts said that said there are only three school district employees allowed to campaign for the referendum during the school day including himself and his two assistant superintendents.
Under state law, all other school district employees are prohibited from advocating for the referendum while at work.
BCSC has scheduled a series of public information sessions on the referendum to give out details and to answer questions from residents. The first is set for Thursday, Feb 6th at Taylorsville Elementary starting at 6 p.m.
Other upcoming public information sessions include:
Thursday, Feb. 20, 6 p.m. at Columbus North High School
Thursday, Feb. 27, 6 p.m. at Rockcreek Elementary
Tuesday, March 24, 6 p.m. at Mt. Healthy Elementary
Tuesday, March 31, 6 p.m. M at Central Middle School
Laila Davis; Photo courtesy of Indiana State Police
A Statewide Silver Alert has been declared.
The Franklin County Sheriff’s Department is investigating the disappearance of Laila Davis, a 16 year old white female, 5 feet 7 inches tall, 170 pounds, black hair with blue eyes, last seen wearing a t-shirt, ripped black jean, and Van shoes or light gray boots. Laila has a rose tattoo on her right forearm.
Laila is missing from Brookville, Indiana which is 75 miles southeast of Indianapolis and was last seen on Tuesday, January 21, 2020 at 4:00 pm. She is believed to be in danger and may require medical assistance.
If you have any information on Laila Davis, contact the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department at 765-647-4138 or 911.
