Out in force to make a point
Local police participate in saturation patrol
By Debbie Lowe Staff writer

Sniffing out the drugs Tippecanoe County K-9 Dag, helps handler Deputy Rob Hainje look for possible drugs in a car during Friday night's saturation patrol. The driver of the car was found to be in possession of marijuana after being stopped for and excessively loud exhaust system. The car was towed from the scene. Comet photo by Debbie Lowe

Last Friday night many residents became aware of an abnormal number of police cars on county roads. The explanation is county, city and other community police departments participated in an 'interdiction' exercise organized by the Indiana State Police. The purpose of the operation was to send a message that criminal activity would not be tolerated Carroll County.

Approximately 38 officers from 12 law enforcement agencies including Burlington, Flora and Delphi participated in stopping cars who appeared to violate traffic laws. Carroll County Prosecutor Tricia Thompson and deputy prosecutor Christine Smith also participated.

When cause to suspect drugs arose, K-9 units were called to the scene to assist in the investigation.

"I'm excited about this interdiction," sheriff Tony Burns said as he was driving on county roads near Burlington. "It's a good way for us to be pro-active rather than being reactive about crime."

Calling all cars! The Burlington-area team of ISP officer Buckley, Burlington Deputy Jill Hammond, Carroll County Sheriff Deputy Mike Peters and sheriff Tony Burns synchronized radio frequencies before hitting the roads around Burlington for Friday's interdiction operation. Comet photo by Debbie Lowe

Tippecanoe County K-9 Handler Rob Hainje said he was "glad to participate" in a neighboring county's interdiction. He said other agencies assisted Tippecanoe County recently for the same reason.

Hainje said it was enjoyable to work saturation patrols because the increased visibility in the community makes such an impact upon the citizens.

Officers in the six-hour enforcement period wrote 88 traffic citations and issued 236 warning tickets.

Six individuals were arrested for operating while intoxicated and 10 for driving while suspended. Four arrests for possession and one warrant arrest was made by participating officers.

A total of 11 felony and eight misdemeanor arrests were made and 13 suspects were jailed. Those arrested were: + Shawn O'Brien, 18, Delphi; + Joshua Stout, 23, Monticello; + Kevin Hammel, 23, Delphi; + Dustin Bowers, 25, Monticello; + Timothy Mounts, 40, Monticello; + Athur Biro, 54, Logansport; + Saul Franco, 28, Logansport; + Ronny Hunt, 20, Monticello; + Jason Miller, 34, Burlington; + Christina Nicolas, 29, Mulberry; + Aaron Jones, 32, Bringhurst; + Kathleen Coughlin, 52; + Molly Isom, 35, Camden; a + Gary Smith, 50, Mulberry.

"This was a very visible operation and people got to see police out enforcing our laws," prosecutor Thompson said. "The message to criminals in the area is that the police are watching."

"On any given Friday night, there is approximately the same amount of criminal activity," she added. "If we find that much crime in one night by using that many officers,

imagine what goes on that we don't catch."