Yesterday, January 24, 2019 Superintendent Doug Carter recognized long serving civilian and enforcement members of the Indiana State Police who recently achieved milestone anniversaries of 30, 35, 40 and 45 years of dedicated service to the state police and citizens of Indiana. 

Each department member pictured below was presented a certificate to commemorate their years of service.

Annamary Sullivan – 45 years of service              Criminal Justice Data Division

Maj. Patrick O’Connor – 40 years of service          Special Operations Commander

Capt. Erv Faulk – 35 years of service                    Criminal Justice Data Division

Maj. Todd Smith – 30 years of service                      Chief Legal Counsel

Lt. Jeffrey Payne – 30 years of service            Indianapolis District Commander

M/Tpr Lionel Douglas – 30 years of service Lowell District Trooper

M/Tpr Kelly Lazzell – 30 years of service      Indianapolis District Trooper

F/Sgt Michael Nichols – 30 years of service Special

Two men were arrested by the Scott County Sheriff’s Department for dealing drugs – one from Austin and one from Tampico in Jackson County.

Deputy Joe Baker received a tip in regards to the whereabouts of Keith Smith.

The information provided led Deputy Baker to a residence in Tampico, Indiana.

Smith was arrested on an active warrant and taken into custody without further incident.

Smith was arrested for DEALING SCHEDULE I, II, III CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE – AT LEAST ONE GRAM LT FIVE, DEALING SCHEDULE IV CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE – AT LEAST FIVE GRAMS LT TEN GRAMS, DEALING IN MARIJUANA WEIGHING B/T 30 GRAMS & 10 POUNDS, MAINTAINING A COMMON NUISANCE, and POSSESSION OF PARAPHERNALIA.

Deputy Baker also received an additional tip in regards to the whereabouts of Johnnie T. Sizemore Jr., who had an active arrest warrant.

Information led Deputy Baker to a residence in Austin, Indiana.

With the assistance of Austin Police Department, Sizemore was taken into custody without further incident.

Sizemore was arrested for DEALING IN COCAINE OR NARCOTIC DRUG – AT LEAST ONE GRAM LT 5 GRAMS, and DEALING IN COCAINE OR NARCOTIC DRUG – AT LEAST ONE GRAM LT 5 GRAMS.

The Scott County Sheriff’s Office continues to target and arrest alleged drug dealers in Scott County as the jail records show. Sheriff Goodin’s philosophy of quit dealing, move out of the county or go to jail policy is sending a direct message to the drug culture that Scott County will be a Drug Free Community.

Indiana Department of Transportation officials met with contractor representatives and design engineers yesterday (JAN 17) at Seymour District offices to launch a bridge deck overlay project that impacts State Road 135 motorists west of Corydon.

Single-lane traffic restrictions at the construction site is scheduled to begin in late February.

Weddle Brothers of Evansville, the state’s contractor, plans to activate temporary signals at either end of the S.R. 135 bridge over Indian Creek—located 1.3 miles south of S.R. 62—on February 25 or sooner, if weather is favorable.

Driving surface of this 462-foot-long 3-span bridge built in the early 1970s will be removed and a new overlay installed. 

One-half of the S.R. 135 structure at a time—beginning on the southbound side of the bridge—will be hydro-demolished, then overlaid with a new 2¼-inch concrete surface. The project also calls for limited substructure work as well as new pavement approaches.

The temporary signals will restrict traffic flow to a single lane, one-direction-at-a-time. INDOT officials anticipate that operations at the S.R. 135 Indian Creek bridge will continue through August.

S.R. 135 has a traffic count of 9,705 vehicles per day.

A wheel which came off a vehicle traveling southbound on I-65 resulted in the fatality of a northbound motorist.

The preliminary investigation reveals that at approximately 12:50 pm this afternoon, Peter D. Gaetano, 51, of Covert, Michigan was driving his blue, 2016 GMC pickup truck southbound near the 2.8 mile marker when the rear driver’s side wheel came off his vehicle as he was traveling in the third lane of I-65 just north of Eastern Boulevard. After breaking loose from the vehicle, the wheel became airborne, crossing over the concrete median wall and into the northbound lanes of I-65. The wheel collided with a white Chevrolet pick-up truck driven by Olivia Kustes,18, of Rineyville, Kentucky, causing fatal injuries. The pickup truck continued north into the righthand emergency lane and appeared not to be stopping. A commercial vehicle driver, Alvin P. Logan, 45, Chicago, Illinois, realized the vehicle was not stopping and placed his semi-truck in front of the vehicle driven by Kustes and slowly brought it to a stop on the right side of the interstate.

Clarksville City Police units were first to arrive on scene and requested the aid of Indiana State Police crash reconstructionists who are investigating the crash.

The two right-hand lanes of I-65 northbound remained closed until approximately 4:00 pm.

Olivia Kustes was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash by the Clark County Coroner’s Office.

The Indiana State Police were assisted by units from the Clarksville Police Department, the Clarksville Fire Department, the Clark County Coroner’s Office, and the Indiana Department of Transportation.