Headlines Week of March 18, 2024
COMPLAINT OF MAN PASSED OUT BEHIND WHEEL LEADS TO ARREST OF FATHER AND SON FOR METH
Just after 2 pm Eastern on Friday, March 15, 2024, Sgt. Scott Arnold and Dep. Briar Meadors responded to a complaint of a passed out individual behind the wheel in a vehicle on County Road 425 East near the intersection of County Road 1100 South in southern Pike County, Indiana. The officers located Luke Spaulding, 23, behind the wheel of a parked white pickup truck on County Road 425 East and reported that Luke Spaulding admitted that he had ingested a quarter gram of methamphetamine which he claimed he had taken from his father’s residence at 10403 South County Road 500 East, Stendal, Indiana. Deputy Meadors applied for a search warrant of the Spaulding residence to look for methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia which was granted by Pike Circuit Judge Jeff Biesterveld just after 4pm Friday.
According to an affidavit of probable cause filed in the Pike Circuit Court, Luke Spaulding’s father, Jeffrey Spaulding, 54, of 10403 South County Road 500 East in Stendal was arrested Friday, March 15, 2024, when officers served the search warrant and reported finding substance field testing positive for methamphetamine and other drug paraphernalia. According to that probable cause affidavit, Jeffrey Spaulding has a prior conviction in Pike County for Dealing in Methamphetamine from February of 2013. Charges were filed against Jeffrey
Spaulding for Possession of Methamphetamine, with a prior Dealing Conviction, a level 5 felony with bond set in amount of $50,000 with 10% permitted. Luke Spaulding is being charged with Possession of Methamphetamine, a level 6 felony, and is being held in the Pike County Jail on a $15,000 bond with 10% permitted. A level 5 felony is punishable by up to 6 years imprisonment, while a level 6 felony is punishable by up to 2 and a half years.
CHARLESTOWN MAN CHARGED WITH DOMESTIC BATTERY
According to an Affidavit of Probable Cause filed in the Pike Circuit Court, Jacob Vierling, 23, of Charlestown, Indiana was arrested on March 17, 2024 after police received a report of a domestic dispute at a residence in Petersburg. Officers reported arriving and finding Vierling outside of the residence and upon speaking with him, Vierling admitted kicking a female at the residence in the leg. Vierling told officers that he did so because the female had tried to kick him during the incident. Officers documented in the affidavit that when they approached the female that she stated that Vierling kicked at her stomach and that he struck her leg when she raised it to block the kick. The woman denied trying to kick Vierling. Officer Paul Collier reported finding a muddy footprint on the back of the woman’s leg and subsequently arrested Vierling for Class A Misdemeanor Domestic Battery. Vierling is being held in the Pike County Jail with Bond set at $5,000, 10 % permitted, with no contact permitted with the alleged victim. A Class A Misdemeanor is punishable by up to 1 year in jail.
CASES RESOLVED BY PLEA AGREEMENT
State v. Sean M. Lemond, 63C01-2309-F2-000270
On March 20, 2024, Sean M. Lemond, 27, of Otwell, Indiana admitted under oath that in September of 2023 that he had knowingly delivered methamphetamine weighing at least ten grams to another person. Per his plea agreement filed with the Pike Circuit Court, Lemond agreed to plead guilty to Dealing in Methamphetamine with weight of at least ten (10) grams, a Level 2 felony in exchange for a sentence of fifteen (15) years in the Department of Corrections, with eleven (11) of those years permitted to be served in the Wabash Valley Work Release Program, or a like facility. Lemond received credit for 195 actual days of confinement since his September 6, 2023 arrest and 65 days of good time credit, all applied against the total sentence. In Indiana, a level 2 felony is punishable by ten (10) to thirty (30) years, and generally with expected good behavior credits and time cuts the offender can typically expect to serve less than seventy-five percent (75%) of the total sentence.
State v. Logan Stidham, 63C01-2309-F6-000301
Logan Stidham, 27, of Evansville, Indiana admitted under oath that on September 28, 2023, that he knowingly resisted Pike County Sheriffs Deputy, Chase Dotterweich by attempting to outrun officers in a 2019 Jeep on I-69 south which chase ensued through multiple counties. Pursuant to Stidham’s guilty plea he was sentenced to one (1) year in the Pike County Jail on charge and conviction of Resisting Law Enforcement with a Motor Vehicle, a level 6 felony. As part of the plea Pike County authorities dismissed a Count for Auto Theft so that
prosecution of that charge could ensue in Vanderburgh County, who presently has an outstanding warrant which will be served when Stidham completes the Pike County Sentence. Upon Stidham’s apprehension, officers learned that Kenny Kent had reported the Jeep stolen. A level 6 felony is punishable by up to two and a half (2.5) years in jail, with a person convicted of such a level of offense expected to serve approximately fifty percent (50%) of the total sentence.
CASES SET FOR TRIAL
State v. Richard Dillon, 63C01-2311-F4-000343
Richard Dillon, of Patoka, Indiana was scheduled for trial by Jury on Charge of Dealing in Methamphetamine, a level 4 felony on June 18-19, 2024. Richard Dillon was arrested in November 2023.
State v. Lance Scott, 63C01-2401-F1-00009
Lance Scott of Winslow, Indiana was scheduled for trial by jury in the Pike Circuit Court on August 26-29, 2024 on Charge of Child Molesting. Scott was arrested in January 2024.
State v. Jeremy McCandless, 63C01-2311-FB-000331
Jeremy McCandless of Winslow, Indiana was scheduled for trial by jury in the Pike Circuit Court on October 1-2, 2024 on Charge of Child Molesting. McCandless was arrested in November 2023.