Yesterday, around 12:31 p.m., two Indiana State Troopers discovered over 120 pounds of marijuana while on a traffic stop on the Indiana Toll Road.  The stop occurred eastbound near the 22 mile marker.  This is near the Portage Barrier.

Troopers observed a grey Dodge Avenger commit several traffic violations while travelling eastbound in front of them.  The Dodge was stopped the for the traffic violations near the 22 mile marker.

While the troopers spoke to the driver, Howard Montgomery, age 46 of Rochester, NY, and the passenger, Danielle Ruise, age 32 of Roshester, NY, they became suspicious of criminal activity.

A free-air sniff was conducted by Indiana State Police K9, Axel, who gave a positive indication.  After conducting a search, troopers located approximately 121 pounds of suspected marijuana in the trunk of the Dodge.

Montgomery and Ruise were both arrested and face preliminary charges of Dealing Marijuana, Level 5 Felony.  Montgomery and Ruise were both transported to the Porter County Jail.

The Indiana State Police were assisted by officers with the Portage Police Department and detectives with the Porter County Sheriff’s Department. 

This morning, Bradley York, 38, of Evansville was arrested after leading Indiana State Police in a brief chase that ended in a crash on Darmstadt Road south of Mohr Road.

At approximately 10:46 a.m., Trooper William Campbell observed York disregard the traffic light at Heidelbach and Diamond Avenue. 

York was Charged with: 

1. Resisting Law Enforcement with a Vehicle, Class 6 Felony
2. Resisting Law Enforcement, Class A Misdemeanor
3. Criminal Recklessness, Class B Misdemeanor
4. Reckless Driving, Class B Misdemeanor
5. Driving While Intoxicated, Class A Misdemeanor

He was driving a 2006 Pontiac Vibe. Trooper Campbell attempted to stop the vehicle, but York refused and continued west on Diamond Avenue and then north onto First Avenue.  York disregarded the stoplights at Buena Vista and Campground Road.

The vehicle continued north onto Darmstadt Road at a high rate of speed. As York approached a curve south of Mohr Road he lost control and went left of center sideswiping a 2005 Toyota traveling southbound. 

The Pontiac then struck the guardrail on the west side of Darmstadt Road causing the vehicle to spin around facing south. Trooper Campbell stopped his patrol car on Darmstadt Road just south of the collision to prevent the vehicle from proceeding forward, but York accelerated and drove his vehicle into the front end of Trooper Campbell’s patrol car. York was not able to maneuver his vehicle after the collision with the patrol car. He was ordered out of the vehicle, but he refused.

Evansville Police arrived and assisted Trooper Campbell with removing York out of the vehicle.  He continued to resist and was tased by an Evansville Police Officer.  York was eventually taken into custody and transported to St. Vincent Hospital for minor injuries. 

The driver of the vehicle that was sideswiped was treated and released at the scene.  Darmstadt Road was closed for approximately 90 minutes while Troopers investigated the incident.

Further investigation revealed York had a blood alcohol content of .11%. York is currently being transported to the Vanderburgh County Jail.

Arresting Officer: Trooper William Campbell, Indiana State Police

Assisting Officers: Sergeant Kevin Brown, Trooper Dustan Rubenacker and Lt. Brian Bailey

David graduated from the Indiana State Police Academy back on December 19 of 1987 and was assigned to work at the Indiana State Police Post at Sellersburg, where he still remains a detective today. David lives in Clarksville with his wife Shirley.

David’s Commander, First Sergeant Bill Wibbels stated, “David’s wealth of knowledge and experience makes him a very valuable asset to the state police department”.

Pictured is Detective Makowsky and First Sergeant Bill Wibbels as he was presented the certificate.

After the first threat came in about 5p Thursday evening, Paoli Community School Officials decided to have a two-hour delay on Friday to figure out if the threat was imminent. 

Later in the evening, another threat showed up on social media and the schools were closed today. 

Indiana State Police Sgt. Chad Dick said law enforcement was able to figure that the post seen locally was a screenshot of a post that originated outside of the area and outside of the country.

“Later in the evening, another post from that same site showed up. That’s when the corporation decided to call school off for the day. For the safety of everyone,” Dick said. 

State Police, Orange County Sheriff’s Department and Paoli Police Department officers have been working with school officials to investigate.

“We are continuing to investigate it,” said Dick. “It’s very complex. With technologies used and it can be very daunting and difficult.”

Dick said parents are encouraged to talk with students. If anyone has information, call the State Police at 812.482.1441. 

Eastern School Corporation closed its doors Thursday after threats appeared online from a foreign app called Saraha and shared through Snapchat. 

“I think this is going to be the same thing,” said Dick. “Sounds like it’s going to be the same thing. I live in Dubois County. On Veteran’s Day, the same thing came out. Once again it’s so difficult when it’s overseas.”

When posed with the question of why these threats would be coming from overseas to schools in rural Indiana, Dick had this to say: 

“Obviously the significance of anyone who’s trying to cause terror is to make people afraid,” said Dick. “What was put out last night was enough to cause the officials to close the school. It was threats to the school corporation. Bad enough for them to cancel school for the day. Terrorists want to instill fear. What better way than to pick on rural communities. Once we’re connected to the world like we are now, things that used to be passed around by paper come from anywhere in the world.”

Paoli Community Schools will be CLOSED today. 

Last night the school notified WSLM that they would be observing a 2-hour delay today after threats were made against the school.

Administrators and law enforcement are continuing their investigation into the anonymous threat directed at the school.

Administrators will send out more information as it becomes available.

It is not known at this time if the threat came from a student or how the threat was made. 

East Washington School Corporation was closed on Thursday due to threats made through a social media app call Sarahah and Snapchat. 

A school shooting took place earlier this week in Kentucky that resulted in the death of two students and 16 others being sent to the hospital with injuries. 

Paoli Community Schools is on a two-hour delay Friday after an anonymous threat was made.

The district said bags, backpacks and Chromebook cases should be left at home.

If a student brings one of the aforementioned items, it will be searched.

According to a post on the school’s Facebook page, absences will be waived if parents choose to keep their kids home from school.

Extra law enforcement will be on hand. 

Police are working with a tech firm to track the whereabouts of social media messages that posed a threat against Eastern High School students early Thursday morning.  

Dennis Stockdale, East Washington School Corporation Superintendent said schools would be open on Friday.

But Stockdale said students are being asked not to bring backpacks to school. If backpacks are brought, he said they will be searched as they arrive at school.

“We’re going to ask kids to do things a little differently tomorrow,” Stockdale said. “We’re going to ask parents to do things a little differently. I’m asking parents to be patients because we anticipate it may take a little bit longer to get the kids where they need to be in the morning, but we can ensure their safety, and that’s first.”

There will be a much stronger presence with police on campus, he said.

Through working with the Pekin Town Marshall, Indiana State Police and the Washington County Sheriff’s Department and a school-focused tech company called Safer Schools Together, they have identified the threats came from a foreign app that allows anyone to post anonymously. 

 “We found that these messages originated with an app called Sarahah,” said Stockdale, “It identified first names of what we think were a couple of students. Some generic comments were made towards the school. We have been trying to pinpoint how specific and accurate they are. That’s why we brought in Safe Schools and law enforcement to take it to the next level, so we can get behind this and find who this is.”

We have some confidence we can pinpoint who the person is. That person will be prosecuted to the fullest,” said Stockdale.

“Sarahah” is the Arabic word for candor or openness, and those are certainly qualities that could be used to describe the many users who are flocking to download the social app that lets them send anonymous messages. 

This app was introduced in late 2016 by Saudi Arabian developer Zain al-Abidin Tawfiq, and began as a website intended for employees to give anonymous, honest feedback to their employers.

After some success in Arabic-speaking countries, Tawfiq rolled out an English version last summer. Like many anonymous messaging apps before it, the new app has caught on rapidly with teens.

Stockdale said law enforcement has spoken with the students involved – those who received the post. He said the original post was re-transmitted through Snapchat to others.

“There’s a lot of gray area of where the original post came from,” he said. 

“At this point we don’t know if it’s a local post or if it is a generic post that could hit multiple places throughout the country,” Stockdale said. “We’ve seen that in schools here in the past few years those happening, so we need to identify that, work on that, and that’s what’s happening now through law enforcement and some of the other agencies.”

“There was some conversation – I can’t talk about now – that really maybe gives us hope that we can at least identify that it might be a student or that it might not be and might just be a hacker. The experts are looking at that for us. We definitely want to be proactive,” he said. 

Stockdale said school officials were notified at midnight and immediately began planning to call of school so they could investigate and determine the threat assessment.  “I don’t think any of us have been to bed yet. That’s how important it is. Parents trust me with the security of their children. They expect us to get them to school safely, keep them safe while they are here and get them from school to home safely. We wanted to make sure we were able to do that.”

“The decision was made to immediately cancel classes and get a plan together for tomorrow so they would be safe.

In working with law enforcement, Stockdale had nothing but great things to say. “We have some of the best law enforcement around….from the town marshall, to the state police, to the Washington County Sheriff’s Department. Working with everyone has allowed us to put a plan in place along with staff and law enforcement. To have a heightened security presence when our kids come tomorrow. They’ll be safe while we investigate and get to the bottom of the post.”

“It’s been a very concerted effort for the safety of our kids, so we’re confident tomorrow that we can bring kids back on campus while we continue the investigation into where these threats might have originated from,” he said.

Several threats are made to schools around the US each day. In fact, there were several others around the country today. 

Even a day after a tragic school shooting in which 2 students were killed and over a dozen were injured, a threat was made at a Kentucky school. 

Madisonville Police officers have taken two juveniles into custody after false threats of a school shooting circulated on social media. 

The message directing threats at Hopkins County Schools happened late Tuesday night, according to a statement from Major Chris Taylor of Madisonville Police.