Juvenile injured in a personal-watercraft accident in Warrick County.

Indiana Conservation Officers are investigating a personal-watercraft (PWC) accident that occurred yesterday morning at Lynnville Park. 

At approximately 9:34 a.m., a 16-year-old female started her PWC on the water at Lynnville Park.

For unknown reasons, the PWC exploded, ejecting her into the water.

A witness, Harrison Raisor, 19, of Evansville, was on the shore nearby, witnessed the explosion, and pulled the juvenile out of the water.

She was taken by StatFlight to St. Vincent Hospital in Evansville where she was being treated for severe back injuries.

The juvenile was wearing a life jacket at the time of the accident. The cause of the explosion is still under investigation.

Responding agencies included Warrick County EMS, Lynnville Fire, Elberfeld Fire, and St. Vincent StatFlight.

Last Friday afternoon, Indiana Conservation Officers in District 10, on behalf of the Indiana Turn in a Poacher (TIP) organization, presented 12-year-old Bridger Strickland of Valparaiso with a $500 reward check for his actions which led to charges being filed against an individual for fish and wildlife violations that occurred in Porter County earlier this year.

Strickland observed violations occurring, documented them, and contacted law enforcement. Using the information gathered by Strickland, Indiana Conservation Officers initiated an investigation that led to the identity of the suspect and charges being filed.

TIP is a non-profit conservation organization that protects our fish and wildlife resources by increasing public support and involvement in bringing violators to justice.

A poacher is a thief who illegally steals wildlife that belongs to each Indiana citizen. Indiana DNR manages wildlife for everyone. Every person can help TIP support DNR’s efforts by reporting potential violations. This will help conserve wildlife for future generations.

Call TIP if you see, hear, or learn about a poacher or another fish and wildlife violation. If your “TIP” leads to an arrest, you may receive as much as a $500 reward, and you can remain anonymous. The phone number for the TIP hotline is 1-800-TIP-IDNR.

On May 25, 2021, the Scott County Sheriff’s Office was contacted by the Scott County Circuit Court in reference to threats being made towards a Scott County Judicial Officer.

The threats were made during a court hearing on Zoom involving Mitchell Keown. 

First Sergeant John Hartman collected all of the information and prepared a case that was presented to the Scott County Prosecutor’s Office for review.    

After reviewing the information an arrest warrant was issued for Mitchell Keown, 34, of Lexington, IN. 

First Sergeant Hartman located and arrested Mitchell Keown on an outstanding arrest warrant for Intimidation-Deadly Weapon, Judge, Bailiff or Prosecuting Attorney. 

Mitchell Keown was incarcerated in the Scott County Jail and is awaiting his first court appearance.

On Thursday, May 20, 2021, at approximately 9:30 pm, Trooper Sam Wagner and Trooper Ben Smith arrived at 4144 Fort Ritner Road, Bedford, IN to attempt to serve an active felony warrant on Casey C. Brown, 35 years old of Bedford.

The original warrant for Brown was issued out of Lawrence County for a Failure to Appear on the following original charges,

• Criminal Confinement While Armed with a Deadly Weapon, Level 3 Felony
• Domestic Battery Committed in the Presence of a Minor, Level 6 Felony
• Intimidation, Level 6 Felony
• Criminal Recklessness, Level 6 Felony

Brown was taken into custody and transported to the IU Health Bedford and then the Lawrence County Jail. The investigation is ongoing and any further information will be submitted to the Lawrence County Prosecutors Office for review. 

Upon arriving at the residence, Troopers announced and entered the home when Brown displayed a handgun and barricaded himself in an interior room within the residence.

Troopers immediately cleared all occupants out of the residence for their safety and after unsuccessfully resolving the situation they retreated and set up a perimeter around the home while maintaining communication with Brown. 

Members of the Indiana State Police SWAT Team along with ISP Negotiators arrived on the scene and continued to negotiate with the suspect for several hours.

At approximately 5:00 p.m. on May 21, 2021, and after several attempts to have the suspect surrender to Troopers, ISP SWAT applied non-lethal tactical techniques to gain voluntary compliance from the suspect.

While attempting to resolve the situation with the less amount of force necessary, the suspect failed to comply with commands to surrender or remove the weapon from his control.

The negotiations and tactics continued until the suspect surrendered to the Indiana State Police SWAT team at approximately 6:00 p.m.

All criminal defendants are to be presumed innocent until, and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

An arrest has been made and charges filed in the investigation of several fires, which included the destruction of the cabin at the George Rogers Clark Home Site that occurred late last week. 

At 4:24 p.m. Friday afternoon, detectives and officers with Clarksville Police Department arrested Jason D. Fosse, 36, of Clarksville. Fosse was booked into the Clark County jail on a charge of Arson, a Level 4 Felony.

After an extensive coordinated investigation by Indiana Conservation Officers and other state and local agencies, Indiana Conservation Officer’s obtained arrest and search warrants for the suspect and his residence.

Agencies assisting in the investigation included the Clarksville Police Department, the Clarksville Fire Department Fire Marshall’s Office, the Indiana State Fire Marshall’s Office, and the Indiana State Police.

The investigation is ongoing. 

Gathering more information, in this case, is critical. Indiana Conservation Officers ask that anyone with video or witness information relating to the fires contact Indiana Conservation Officer’s Central Dispatch at (812) 837-9536.