Washington County Circuit Court Clerk Sarah Milligan entered a not-guilty plea this morning at her first hearing in Washington Superior Court since being arrested on Friday, Dec. 28 on five charges including illegal possession of a legend drug. 

Milligan’s attorney Jennifer Lukemeyer petitioned the court to waive the formal reading of the charges. Washington County Prosecuting Attorney Dustin Houchin didn’t object to that.

Lukemeyer then entered a not-guilty plea on all charges. 

Milligan’s attorney asked the court to allow for an extension of time to request a special prosecutor.

Special Judge John Evans of Harrison County agreed and extended the deadline to February 25. 

Milligan requested modification of terms of release on bond to allow her to leave the state to travel to the Louisville Metro area.

Houchin had no objection and that request was granted. 

Also Houchin said since there was probable cause to believe Milligan was intoxicated (that she failed the tests), he requested the court to send an immediate request to the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles for a suspension of Milligan’s drivers license.

Houchin said that would take a couple of days to be put into effect.  

A pre-trial conference has been set for April 26 at 9:30a. The trial has been tentatively set for June 4. 

Milligan was originally arrested after an Indiana State Trooper observed her speeding on SR60 in Salem and also noticed the temporary tags on her vehicle were ripped.

She had been stopped by Officer Nigel Smith of the Salem City Police Department the previous night with no incident. He asked her to make sure the proper license plates were attached to the vehicle before she drove the vehicle again.

Milligan drove the vehicle to work that Friday, with the temporary tags still ripped. 

According to the Indiana State Police, Miligan failed sobriety tests and was arrested and taken to St. Vincent Salem Hospital where she agreed to a blood alcohol test.

Those results have not been released. 

Shortly after her arrest, Milligan was charged with the following:

• Operating a Vehicle While Intoxicated Endangering a Person
• Operating a Vehicle While Intoxicated
• Possession of a Controlled Substance
• Possession of a Controlled Substance
• Unlawful Possession or Use of a Legend Drug knowingly possess or use X, a Legend Drug

Her bond was set at $4300 full cash and she was released on December 29 at 6:21p.

According to a probable cause affidavit filed in the arrest of , Indiana State Police found only one and a half prescription pills in her purse after her arrest due to a traffic stop. 

The pills were taken by police to a local pharmacy where they were identified as generic forms of Adderral and Suboxone, both prescription drugs, according to State Police Sgt. Carey Huls. 

There was no alcohol or other drugs found in the vehicle or on her person. 

Milligan has returned to her role as Washington County Clerk however, Judge Larry Medlock issued an order on Thursday, January 24 that banned Milligan from handling any of the clerk’s duties regarding her own case.

Those duties have been shifted to Harrison County Clerk Sherry Brown. 

Medlock wrote in the order, “That it is appropriate to relieve the Clerk and her deputies of any and all duties in [her case in]
which Sarah Milligan the elected Clerk is charged with multiple Felonies and due to it being a direct conflict of interest and having the general appearance of impropriety for the Clerk to oversee the filings against her finds the situation untenable and that emergency action must be taken to insure the integrity of the
judicial process”

Medlock noted that Special Judge John Evans of the Harrison Circuit Court was randomly assigned as Special Judge by the district’s administrate assignment Judge.

“This court now finds and orders that the Clerk of the Harrison County Circuit Court is assigned the responsibilities of Special Clerk to accept, process and disseminate all fixture filings and Orders,” Medlock noted. “This Court is taking this extraordinary measure to protect the public’s interest and to avoid the appearance of impropriety and insure the orderly dispensation of
justice.”

Emergency responders have searched the area downstream of the low head dam in Big Blue River in Edinburgh looking for a possible man who they believed fell into the water. 

Responders are searching the area downstream from the reported incident in Edinburgh.

They are utilizing boat based searches, probing the shore with pike poles and viewing the area from above with drones.

The identity of the possible victim still remains unknown. Local law enforcement has been following up on leads as they have emerged, but at this point have not identified a missing person. They have watched surveillance video from local business, canvased the area and contacted local schools.

If anyone knows a person who matches the description of the possible victim from the Edinburgh area that is unaccounted for, please contact Johnson County Sheriff Dept.

At approximately 5 p.m., Thursday, a 911 caller reported they saw what they believed to be a male person on top of the dam.

He was described as a white male, blond hair, thin build and wearing a red shirt and blue jeans. The witness said the man entered the water and was swept downstream.

At this time the possible victim remains unidentified and no one has been reported missing from the Edinburgh area this evening. If anyone from the public knows of a person who has not returned home and fits the description of the victim, please contact Johnson County Sheriff Department at 317-736-5155.

Emergency responders will return in the morning to search the area with watercraft, drones and by foot.

Responding agencies include Indiana Conservation Officers, Johnson County Sheriff Dept, Edinburgh Police Department, Bargersville Fire Department, Franklin Fire Department, Shelby County Water Rescue Team, Columbus Fire Department and Ninevah Fire Department.

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.