Yesterday afternoon, a Salem man was arrested for multiple drug charges after being reported as exhibiting suspicious behavior around the Dollar General Store. 

Stephen Jonas, 35, from Teresa Street in Salem, was charged with Dealing in Cocaine, Dealing in Heroin, Dealing in Methamphetamine, Possession of Cocaine, Possession of Heroin, Possession of Methamphetamine, Possession of a Syringe, Possession of a Legend Drug and Possession of Paraphernalia.

Indiana State Police troopers Zach Smith and Brett Walters were flagged down by a 

citizen and advised of two suspicious male subjects at the Dollar General Store in Salem.

When the troopers responded they began to investigate and after surveilling the parking lot they noticed a male subject, later identified as Jonas, go around the store to the rear of the building.

Troopers made contact with him and later discovered controlled substance, needles and paraphernalia in the area where he was located.

Jonas was placed under arrest and during the impounding of the vehicle he was in possession of, troopers located multiple baggies and needles.

He was incarcerated at the Washington County Jail awaiting his first court appearance. This investigation is continuing.

A 45-year-old Salem man was arrested on Thursday after a seven hour standoff with police at a residence on Franklin School Road.

Allen Scott Whitt, 45, Salem, 742 Franklin School Road was arrested and booked into the Washington County Detention Center on a charge of criminal confinement, armed with a deadly weapon, resulting in serious bodily injury to a person. 

The Washington County Sheriff’s Department received a 911 from Whitt’s girlfriend at 4:20a that she had locked herself in a bedroom to get away from her husband. 

Policed responded to the residence immediately and upon arrival, the woman crawled out of a window and escaped the home. 

Whitt refused to leave the home. Salem Police Department officers assisted with maintaining a perimeter around the home. 

Indiana State Police were called and responded with an Emergency Response Team. 

Whitt would not come out of the house and an armored vehicle breached the front door, allowing the ERT to enter and secure Whitt. 

The incident, which is still under investigation, ended with his arrest about 11a.

What started as a call from a concerned motorist on the Indiana Toll Road ultimately led to the arrest of a Chicago woman for operating while intoxicated and more. 

On August 10th at approximately 9:40 p.m. troopers on the Indiana Toll Road received a call from a concerned motorist about a Pontiac minivan that was driving erratically on the Indiana Toll Road in St. Joseph County.

A short time later Trooper Matthew Drudge located this van and subsequently stopped it for several traffic violations eastbound at the 75 mile marker.  This is located two miles west of the South Bend/Notre Dame exit.

While talking with the driver, Porche Sanders, age 35 of Chicago, IL, Trooper Drudge began to suspect that Sanders may be intoxicated and he also noticed three children in the back of the van without child seats or seatbelts on. 

Following an investigation for operating while intoxicated, Sanders was ultimately arrested on preliminary charges of: Operating While Intoxicated Endangerment, A-Misdemeanor, Operating While Intoxicated, C-Misdemeanor, and Possession of a Controlled Substance, A-Misdemeanor. Sanders was then transported to the St. Joseph County Jail.

The Scott County Sheriff’s Department has an opening for a deputy sheriff.                   

WORK SCHEDULE:  

(Varies / 24 Hour Public Service Operation)

QUALIFICATIONS: 

21 years of age; Ability to complete required Indiana Law Enforcement Academy training and other required training as needed; Possession of a valid Indiana Driver’s License and be in good standing with the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles.

APPLICATION PROCESS:        

Candidates can obtain a Scott County Employment Application from the Scott County Auditor’s Office from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm Monday through Friday. Completed applications should be accompanied by a resume and must be submitted to the Auditor’s Office by 4:30 pm on August 25, 2017. A digital copy of the application can be obtained by contacting the Auditor’s Office at 812-752-8408. 

Hiring Process

 Basic Written Skills Test: After a review of applications, applicants will be contacted by phone or mail for a written basic skills test. Indiana Law Enforcement Academy Graduates will not be required to take the basic written skills test.

 Physical Fitness Assessment: Applicants who receive a passing score on the basic written skills test will be invited to take a physical fitness assessment. The assessment is set to the current entrance physical fitness standards of the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy. Those entrance standards can be found on the ILEA website at http://www.in.gov/ilea/2338.htm

 Merit Board Interview: Applicants who receive a passing score on the physical fitness assessment will be invited to an interview with Sheriff’s Merit Board. Following the interviews, the merit board will provide a list of applicants that are eligible for hire and provide that list to the sheriff.

 Background Investigation: Those candidates on the hiring list will be given a conditional offer of employment and will be required to undergo a voice stress analysis and a background investigation. The voice stress analysis will be administered by a certified voice stress analyst.

 Physical Exam: Candidates that pass the voice stress analysis and the background investigation will be required to undergo a physical examination by a physician.

Here is an old picture of the Colonel Redfield home, on the corner of S. High and Cherry, according to Washington County Historian Jeremy Elliott.  The picture is from the early 1900’s.

Colonel James Henry Redfield and his wife, Sarah Wilson Redfield completed the construction of what was then called “the nicest house in town”, in 1882.  

Redfield was promoted to the rank of colonel from the 16th Indiana Regiment, where he was said to be very brave and zealous in battle and very kind in camp. 

His obituary states that he contracted germs during the war that eventually led to his untimely demise at 49 years of age. 

Court in Indy in 1914 and relocated there.  

He passed away in the residence on November 13th, 1883, supposedly from Bright’s Disease. 

It seems he came from a pretty wealthy family and made the bulk of his own money by inventing and manufacturing mill machinery, some of which were said to have been indispensable to the production of good flour, said Elliott.

The couple had 2 children, a boy & a girl, who both died at 1 year of age –also presumably in the home.

Mrs. Redfield died 20 years after her husband, in July of 1903, while gardening in the yard with her female companion, Miss Eva Cauble. 

Her obituary makes it sound like she had a heart attack while collecting cucumbers.  Her funeral was held at the home.

After Mrs. Redfield passed the home was purchased by Judge Milton Hottel, he and his family lived in the home until he was elected to a second term over the State Appellate 

Not long after the house was purchased by Lee and Lucille (Hottel) Persise, who were married there in March of 1911, and they owned the home for nearly 40 years.  Lucille passed away unexpectedly in 1931 due to complications from surgery, her funeral was held at the home. 

When Judge Hottel passed away in June of 1936, his body was brought from Indy to the home of his son-in-law, Mr. Persise, for funeral services.  

“Mr. Persise seems to have sold the home around 1940, but who the owners were from then till Donovan & Jean Wilson purchased the place in 1980, I have been unable to ascertain,” Elliott said.  ” Sometime in this timeframe, someone had the terrible idea of removing the cupola.”