Bloomfield News Blog

Thursday, June 10, 2010
Greene County Daily World

A public forum meeting is planned for Tuesday night at the Wright Township Fire Department in Midland to explain Indiana Rail Road Company’s plans to expand its yard in Jasonville and the closure of a section of a busy county road.

The 6 p.m. meeting will be hosted at the Wright Township Fire Department located along State Road 59.

Indiana Rail Road Company president and CEO Tom Hoback and other company officials will be available to answer questions about the project

To accommodate those plans, a permanent closure of about 775 feet of Queen Four Road (CR. 800N) would be needed.

Indiana District 45 State Rep. Bruce Borders lives along Queen’s Four Road and says he will offer a legislative alternative to the closing of a portion of the county road, if he wins re-election in November. …<more>

Thursday, August 20, 2009
By Anna Rochelle, Staff Writer
Greene County Daily World

The emergency call reporting the shooting of Travis Bohannon came into the Greene County Sheriff’s Department at approximately 8:13 p.m. on Sunday.

The incident was reported by Tanya Salesman, who said she lived at R.R. 1, Box 168, Jasonville. She said Ronald Bohannon was out on a walk with his son, 16-month-old Travis Bohannon, and Travis had been shot. She said they heard a pop then Travis slumped over in the stroller with blood coming out of his ear. She said he was still breathing.

The residence where Salesman and Ronald Bohannon were living is located in the unincorporated town of Midland.

When rescue personnel arrived, the child was transported to Greene County General Hospital were he was pronounced dead.

A detective on the scene at the hospital reported the child suffered a gunshot wound with an entry wound in the top right rear area of his skull and an exit wound in the left cheek area indicating the gun had been fired from behind and to the right of his head.

According to an affidavit filed in the case alleging Ronald Bohannon shot his own son, Bohannon told a detective that he was out for a walk westward with his two boys — pushing Travis in a stroller while his 4-year-old son was riding a bike.

Bohannon said they were near an abandoned house, with the boy on the bike a little ways ahead, when he heard a pop then saw Travis slump over. He said the shot came from the north. He rushed back to the house and had Salesman call 911.

Bohannon told officers that earlier in the day, he had an altercation with a man in a convenience store, Salesman’s ex-husband, who had threatened him. He said the man may have been shooting at him and hit Travis instead.

Investigators located the accused man who denied involvement and they spoke to four other individuals who provided an alibi for his whereabouts at the time of the shooting.

Salesman told officers she was lying on the couch when she heard the gunshot then called 911 when Ronald started yelling.

Salesman said the only firearm in the house was a shotgun in her closet. The affidavit states when located, it had dust and lint in the barrel indicating it had not been shot, or cleaned, in some time.

But when Crime Scene Investigator Christopher McDonald of the Greene County Sheriff’s Department talked to Bohannon in preparation for checking his hands and clothing for gunshot residue, Bohannon said he had fired the shotgun earlier in the day with the 4-year-old boy nearby.

Information from an interview with the 4-year-old boy did not back up Bohannon’s story. The boy said Bohannon did not shoot a shotgun that day.

Other information in the affidavit indicates Bohannon and Salesman’s stories did not match up. Bohannon denied owning any handguns at that time. But Salesman said he had two handguns. She said she found out on Sunday that he had these, got mad and had thrown a black gun out into a field earlier that day.

If Tanya Salesman did not tell the truth about what happened the day Travis Bohannon was shot, it won’t be the first time she has been accused of giving incorrect information to officers.

Salesman was arrested in September 2008, and charged with assisting a criminal. The criminal she assisted was her boyfriend at the time, Steven Lynn McIntyre, who was in trouble for the robbery of the MainSource Bank in Linton. In that case, Salesman told officers that McIntyre could not have robbed the bank because she had his prosthetic legs in the trunk of her car at the time. McIntyre was a double amputee.

After the Bohannon shooting, the field and/or woods where the gun was thrown was secured. The gun was located during a search of that area on Wednesday morning when an Indiana State Police trooper found a black .38-caliber Taurus handgun. The gun was loaded and had one fired round in the cylinder.

When the serial numbers on the gun were run, investigators determined the gun was stolen in Clay County during a home burglary on June 25. Information provided to investigators by the Clay County Sheriff’s Department about the burglary included the fact that a witness (neighbor) had described a blue Pontiac Grand Am with a rear spoiler being present on the scene of the burglary at the time it occurred.

The affidavit in the Bohannon case states that Salesman possesses a blue Pontiac Grand Am with a rear spoiler and that it was present at the Bohannon/Salesman home on Sunday.

Bohannon has also been in trouble before. He has three prior felony convictions within the last 15 years including: a class D felony theft, class C felony forgery and class D felony receiving stolen property. In addition, Bohannon did not possess a valid handgun permit.

Thursday, August 20, 2009
By Anna Rochelle, Staff Writer
Greene County Daily World

Details of the investigation into the death of Travis Bohannon released Thursday included results of an autopsy which indicated the 16-month-old child died from a gunshot wound to the head from a gun that was fired 12-24 inches from his head.

Plus, according to a probable cause affidavit, forensic evidence indicated the gun was fired close to the top right part of the stroller the child was riding in when he was shot.

Forensic Pathologist Dr. Roland Kohr performed the autopsy Monday after the child was killed Sunday evening.

Kohr ruled the manner of death as homicide and found intermediate stippling on his head which indicated the proximity of the weapon.

The autopsy indicated the child’s father, Ronald Bohannon, who was pushing the child in a baby stroller when the child was shot, or some unknown person standing right next to Ronald, had fired the gunshot that killed Travis.

When investigators arrived on the scene, the stroller was sitting in the grass near the front porch of the residence. The stroller had a large amount of blood inside. The affidavit says upon closer examination by Indiana State Police Crime Scene Technician Chris Lewis, the stroller was found to have what appeared to be gunshot stippling on the top right.

Stippling is hot gunshot residue that sticks to and/or burns into an object or person in the close proximity of the muzzle of a gun when it is fired. The closer a person or object is to the gun muzzle, the heavier the stippling will be.

In a probable cause affidavit filed Thursday morning when Ronald Bohannon was charged with reckless homicide, Greene County Sheriff’s Det. George Dallaire said Bohannon gave numerous false statements during the course of the investigation which hindered the efforts of detectives.

Dallaire said Bohannon lied when he denied shooting the child, lied about possessing a handgun, lied when he said he had fired a shotgun earlier in the day (in order to provide an alibi for gunshot residue on his hand or clothing) and lied when he provided the name of another man as a suspect when he knew the man had nothing to do with the shooting.

The findings of the investigation, as outlined in the affidavit, placed blame squarely on Ronald Bohannon.

The affidavit states, “Ronald Bohannon recklessly carried a cocked and loaded handgun, which he was not legally permitted to do, in his right hand while pushing, or attempting to push, Travis Bohannon in a stroller with both hands. This cocked and loaded gun was pointed in Travis Bohannon’s direction when it discharged and the bullet struck Travis Bohannon in the head causing his death.”

Bohannon told investigators one story, then another.

After Bohannon was taken into custody on a warrant issued out of Vigo County and booked into the Greene County Jail, Bohannon asked to again speak with detectives after he was advised of his rights.

During the interview at the jail, according to the affidavit, Bohannon admitted he was the person who shot the child in the head and he apologized for lying. He also said the gun had been loaded with metal jacket hollow-point cartridges.

In that interview, his story was that he had the revolver stuck in his back beltline when they were walking and as they neared the abandoned house, he thought he heard something moving in the brush on the north side of the road so he reached back and cocked the revolver. When he heard more noises, he pulled the cocked revolver from his beltline. Then he heard another noise to his right, spun to his left and hit his right hand on the side of the stroller and the gun went off.

Despite Bohannon’s admission of responsibility, Dallaire noted in the affidavit that even this version was not consistent with the evidence located at the scene nor with how a person would turn to observe the possible threat.

Upon further questioning, Bohannon said that after cocking the revolver, he put his hands back on the stroller handles, with the revolver still in his right hand. Dallaire noted that at this point, the loaded revolver would have been pointed at the top of the child’s head.

When questioned about what happened after the shooting, Bohannon said he laid the gun on the porch railing and his girlfriend then grabbed the gun and he assumed threw it into the field or woods. He said she did that before she called 911.

Bohannon also told investigators that it was his girlfriend’s idea to blame her ex-husband with the shooting.

The affidavit alleges that Bohannon, by allowing his girlfriend to remove the revolver so it could not be used as evidence, obstructed justice.

Thursday, August 20, 2009
BY Anna Rochelle, Staff Writer
Greene County Daily World

Law enforcement officers from several different departments have been working round-the-clock since Sunday evening on an intense investigation into the death of 16-month-old Travis Bohannon.

The toddler was shot in the head with a single bullet while his father, Ronald Bohannon, was pushing him in a baby stroller on Main Street in Midland.

The 29-year-old father is accused of causing the child’s death.

Following the arrest of Bohannon, both Greene County Sheriff Terry Pierce and Prosecutor Jarrod Holtsclaw applauded the efforts of officers across the county who have been working together on the case.

“This is the way cases get solved,” said Pierce. “Several agencies had people on the scene round-the clock and they worked so diligently on this. They worked together hand-in-hand — it was impressive. This is the way it should work.”

The investigation began around 8:13 p.m. on Sunday when the emergency call reporting the shooting came into the Greene County Sheriff’s Department (GCSD).

GCSD Det. George Dallaire was listed as the lead investigator on the case when Bohannon’s arrest was announced early Thursday but Pierce said the arrest came as a result of dedicated work by a large number of officers from several different agencies.

Besides GCSD deputies, other departments involved in the investigation included the Linton Police Department, Jasonville Police Department, Worthington Police Department, Indiana State Police, Indiana Conservation Officers, Indiana Department of Corrections and the Wright Township Volunteer Fire Department.

After charges were filed against Bohannon on Thursday, Holtsclaw said he was appreciative of all the hours put in by so many officers who went above and beyond.

“I just want to thank all of the agencies involved and all of the officers for the effort they put forth on this investigation,” said Holtsclaw.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009
By Nick Schneider, Assistant Editor
Greene County Daily World

The father of the 16-month old Midland toddler, who was shot to death in his stroller Sunday evening, is now being held in the Greene County Jail at Bloomfield in connection with a July 2009 arrest warrant out of Vigo County.

Ronald A. Bohannon, 29, Route 1, Jasonville, was taken into custody Tuesday by Greene County Sheriff’s Department Detective George Dallaire on an outstanding warrant charging him with two counts of receiving stolen property –a class D felony.

He is being held on no bond for Vigo County officials.

The warrant was issued out of Vigo Superior Court, Division 6.

Details related to that case were not released, pending formal notification from Greene County authorities that Bohannon was in custody, according to a court spokesperson.

That warrant is not thought to be related to the shooting incident.

On Tuesday, Greene County Coroner Brian Gainey announced that the death of Travis Bohannon was ruled a homicide.

An autopsy conducted by Regional Hospital in Terre Haute Monday showed that Bohannon, who lives in Terre Haute with his mother, died of a single gunshot wound to the head.

Gainey said the caliber of the gun has not be determined.

The coroner stressed that by definition, a homicide does not necessary constitute murder in the legal term.

The young boy’s parents, Jamie and Ronald Bohannon, are going through a divorce.

The mother lives in Terre Haute.

Travis and his 4-year-old brother, Sean, were at their father’s Greene County home at Midland for a weekend visit when the shooting incident occurred. Shane was walking with his father and younger brother at the time of the shooting.

The Terre Haute Tribune-Star reports that the family has set up a fund at First Financial Bank to accept donations toward the child’s funeral expenses. The boy’s mother had no life insurance on the child, according to the newspaper.

Funeral arrangements have been made at Mattox-Wood North in Terre Haute.

Visitation is set for 5-8 p.m. Thursday with the funeral at 11 a.m. Friday.

This story will be updated as more information becomes available.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009
By Nick Schneider, Assistant Editor
Greene County Daily World

A handgun, believed to be connected with the fatal shooting of a 16-month-old toddler along a street in Midland on Sunday night has been recovered.

Greene County Prosecutor Jarrod Holtsclaw told the Greene County Daily World that a handgun was recovered Wednesday morning by investigators near the scene of the shooting of Travis Bohannon.

Holtsclaw said the weapon was found in a wooded, weedy area near First Street, and was taken as evidence in the case and will be tested for fingerprints and ballistics at the Indiana State Police Lab in Indianapolis.

The prosecutor said the discovery of a weapon was a key development in the case.

“Obviously we have a case where a person is shot and finding a firearm in or near the area of the shooting is important,” Holtsclaw stated. “The area near the scene is very grown up.”

Travis Bohannon was shot in the head with a single bullet while his father Ronald Bohannon was pushing him in a baby stroller. The boy’s older brother, Sean, was walking along side his father when the incident took place.

Holtsclaw said an autopsy performed on the toddler failed to discover a bullet.

The prosecutor said the case is being worked heavily by several area police agencies — including the Greene County Sheriff’s Department and the Indiana State Police.

“We are continuing to work on it. We have essentially been working on it around the clock since Sunday evening. I believe we will eventually find out the truth about what happened to Travis Bohannon. I would ask for people’s patience and let us do our jobs and I’m confident we’ll find out what happened,” he stated Wednesday afternoon.

Meanwhile, the father of the 16-month-old toddler is now being held in the Greene County Jail at Bloomfield on two felony charges not related to his son’s shooting.

Ronald Bohannon 29, was arrested on a July 2009 warrant out of Vigo County.

Bohannon was taken into custody Tuesday evening by Greene County Sheriff’s Department Detective George Dallaire on an outstanding warrant charging him with two counts of receiving stolen property — a class D felony.

He is being held on no bond awaiting pick-up by Vigo County officials.

The warrant was issued out of Vigo Superior Court, Division 6.

That warrant is not thought to be related to the shooting incident, according to Vigo County Chief Prosecutor Rob Roberts and Holtsclaw.

Holtsclaw said officers learned of the warrant during interviews that were conducted Tuesday.

Roberts said the Vigo County charges stem from allegations that Bohannon pawned two alleged items at a Terre Haute-based pawn shop.

Bohannon will be transported to the Vigo County lockup in preparation for an initial hearing later this week.

On Tuesday, Greene County Coroner Brian Gainey announced that the death of Travis Bohannon was ruled a homicide.

An autopsy conducted at Regional Hospital in Terre Haute on Monday showed that Bohannon, who lives in Terre Haute with his mother, died of a single gunshot wound to the head.

Gainey said the caliber of the gun has not be determined.

The coroner stressed that by definition, a homicide does not necessary constitute murder in the legal term.

The young boy’s parents, Jamie and Ronald Bohannon, are going through a divorce.

The mother lives in Terre Haute.

Travis and his 4-year-old brother, Sean, were at their father’s Greene County home at Midland for a weekend visit when the shooting incident occurred. Shane was walking with his father and younger brother at the time of the shooting.

The Terre Haute Tribune-Star reports that the family has set up a fund at First Financial Bank to accept donations toward the child’s funeral expenses. The boy’s mother had no life insurance on the child, according to the newspaper.

Funeral arrangements have been made at Mattox-Wood North in Terre Haute.

Visitation is set for 5-8 p.m. on Thursday with the funeral at 11 a.m. on Friday.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009
By Nick Schneider, Assistant Editorr
Greene County Daily World

Toddler Travis Bohannon died of what officials now have ruled to be a homicide.

But the county coroner says that doesn’t mean the young boy was murdered.

Greene County Coroner Brian Gainey announced Tuesday afternoon that the death of the 14-month-old boy, who was shot to death while being pushed in a stroller by his father Ronald outside his Midland home — located between Jasonville and Linton — has been ruled as a homicide.

An autopsy conducted by Regional Hospital in Terre Haute on Monday showed that Bohannon, who lives in Terre Haute with his mother, died of a single gunshot wound to the head.

Gainey said the caliber of the gun has not be determined.

The coroner stressed that by definition, a homicide does not necessary constitute murder in the legal term.

“The manner of death is homicide. Many people equate homicide with murder and it is not,” Gainey told the Greene County Daily World. “I want to make sure people don’t read something into that (in this case) to be the same as murder. It is not.”

Gainey pointed out that the killing of one human being by the act or omission of another is defined as homicide under Indiana law.

The term homicide applies to all such killings, whether criminal or not, he said.

Criminal homicide occurs when a person purposely, knowingly, recklessly or negligently causes the death of another.

Murder and manslaughter are both examples of criminal homicide.

“Homicide is by description at the hands of another whether it’s justified or not,” Gainey said. “A justifiable homicide would be like if somebody breaks into your house and you shot them. That’s justifiable. Self-defense is justifiable homicide. … This child was only 14 months old and didn’t shoot himself.”

Gainey said he doesn’t expect any more findings from a forensic standpoint in the case.

“Anything else will be what the investigation shows on (prosecutor) Jarrod’s (Holtsclaw) end,” he concluded.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009
By Nick Schneider, Assistant Editor
Greene County Daily World

There are still a lot of unanswered questions in the tragic shooting death of a 14-month-old boy in the small western Greene County community of Midland on Sunday evening.

The small toddler — Travis Bohannon — died about 9:30 p.m. from a gunshot wound to the head after being struck about an hour earlier while he was being pushed in a stroller near his father’s home.

Travis, who lives with his mother — Jaime Bohannon — in Terre Haute, was visiting with his father when the incident unfolded on Main Street in the unincorporated town of Midland, located between Linton and Jasonville

The Bohannons are separated.

Greene County Coroner Brian Gainey told the Greene County Daily World that the fatal wound was most likely inflicted by a small caliber weapon, but he wouldn’t speculate on what kind.

He said an autopsy was conducted Monday at Terre Haute Regional Hospital with those results forwarded to Greene County Prosecutor Jarrod Holtsclaw.

On Tuesday morning, Holtsclaw said he had received the preliminary autopsy report, but did not want to release any of the details during the on-going investigation.

The investigation, being headed by the Greene County Sheriff’s Department, is a multi-law enforcement agency effort, according to Holtsclaw.

“At this point, I’m not prepared to release anything from the autopsy report due to the fact that it is still under investigation. There are still people out there that I know we want to try to track down and talk too. I have a good idea of what is in it (the autopsy report), but I haven’t yet seen a hard copy of it,” Holtsclaw told the Greene County Daily World.

The prosecutor, who was on the crime scene most of the night Sunday and into Monday morning, said officers have focused on talking with anyone who might have seen or heard something related to the case.

“We have tried to talk to the family members involved in this — Mr. (Ronald) Bohannon, the children that were there, his girlfriend, the neighbors in the surrounding area and passersby. We’ve been able to track down some of those,” Holtsclaw pointed out. “Now we are trying to track down people whose names have come up during the course of those interviews.”

The prosecutor said a meeting was conducted Tuesday morning with the investigating agencies to go over what has been done and what is left to do in the investigation.

“I just want to make sure that everybody understands that we are still working on it (the case). There was a lot of work completed the last two days, but there are still some things that we need to sit down and determine what has yet to be done,” he said.

Holtsclaw said it has not been determined whether the shooting death was an accident that may have resulted from a stray bullet.

“I don’t want to speak to that at either way at this point,” Holtsclaw said. “That still needs investigated. If anybody has any information about this incident, please contact the sheriff’s department or the Linton Police Department or Indiana State Police. Contact one of the agencies involved,” he stressed.

When asked if he expects any criminal charges to result from the shooting investigation, Holtsclaw said, “Do I anticipate any criminal charges? Again, until we get a better idea of what exactly happened there on the roadway, I can’t say whether charges will be filed or not. We need to know — and that is what we are in the process of finding out exactly what happened.”

Holtsclaw lauded the cooperation and the work already put in by a variety of personnel from several law enforcement agencies in the case, including the Greene County Sheriff’s Department, Indiana State Police, Linton Police Department, Jasonville Police Department, Worthington Police Department and the Indiana Department of Natural Resources Conservation Officers. Wright Township Volunteer Fire Department also played a major role immediately following the incident, and assisted with traffic control to help seal off the crime scene and also brought out lighted trucks to help illuminate the area during the course of evidence gathering.

The prosecutor added, “We had help from a lot of sources and all of those people working together enabled us to spend almost an entire day around the clock out there trying to gather evidence and track people down.”

Looking ahead, the prosecutor said more work needs to be done.

“A lot of work was done, a lot of people were talked too. There are still some people that we think we want to talk to and that’s what we are going to work on and focus on,” he said “We are going to go back at it and try and get this figured out.”

The Greene County Sheriff’s Department can be contacted by calling 384-4411, the Linton Police Department can be reached at 847-4411 or the Indiana State Police at Bloomington at (812) 332-4411 or toll-free at (800) 423-1286 (Indiana only).

Monday, August 17, 2009
By Nick Schneider, Assistant Editor
Greene County Daily World

MIDLAND — A small boy has died from a gunshot wound after being struck while he was being pushed in a stroller near his father’s home in rural western Greene County.

The Greene County Sheriff’s Department, assisted by officers from the Indiana State Police Bloomington Post, is investigating the shooting death of 14-month-old Travis Bohannon that happened in Midland on Sunday night.

The victim was the son of Ronald Bohannon, of Midland and Jamie Bohannon, who lives in Vigo County.

Jamie Bohannon is the custodial parent and the child was reportedly visiting his father when the 8 p.m. Sunday incident happened at the home of his father, located on Main Street in the small unincorporated town of Midland, west of State Road 59 — between Linton and Jasonville.

The young boy was being pushed in a stroller by his dad with another son nearby.

Greene County Sheriff Terry Pierce told the Greene County Daily World on Monday morning that it is too early in the investigation to say whether the shooting was accidental or if foul play was involved.

He did say the fatal injury was from a gunshot wound.

“At this point we are still investigating this case and don’t have a lot of answers as to what occurred yet,” Pierce said.

When asked whether the incident was an accident, the sheriff replied, “At this point, we are not certain. That would be speculation on my part. We’re just uncertain at this point. We’ve had probably 15 officers out all night long getting information and they’re still out.”

Sheriff Pierce said he could not confirm reports in other media that said that fatal injury came from a ’stray bullet’.

The sheriff said the group of officers have extensively combed the area around the residence looking for evidence and as of 1 p.m., they pulled off the scene until tomorrow.

“They are all exhausted,” he told the Greene County Daily World.

Greene County Coroner Brian Gainey confirmed for the Greene County Daily World that the boy suffered a gunshot wound from a smaller caliber gun to the upper region of his body.

The boy was pronounced dead at Greene County General Hospital in Linton about 9:30 p.m.

Randy Tucker, who lives three homes down from Ronald Bohannon, said he heard a gunshot coming from the direction of Bohannon’s home about midnight a few nights ago. Pierce said hunters frequent the area and gun crime is unusual — most of area’s crimes are burglaries, thefts and some meth-related cases.

Tucker wouldn’t speculate on whether a hunters or others were to blame for the recent gunfire.

“It used to be a nice little place,” he said of the bedroom community of just a few streets.

Another neighbor, Teri Maddox, said she had complained to police about gunfire, including by a former neighbor arrested on drug charges several months ago.

“They let them shoot guns out here all they want,” Maddox said. “They don’t do anything about it.”

An autopsy was conducted at 10 a.m. Monday at Regional Hospital in Terre Haute and results have been forwarded to Greene County Prosecutor Jarrod Holtsclaw, Gainey said.

Members of the Wright Township Fire Department assisted with traffic control in and out of the crime scene throughout the night, according to fire chief Jack Wilson.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Thursday, August 13, 2009
By Anna Rochelle, Staff Writer
Greene County Daily World

A warrant for the arrest of Brent Gilbert was issued late Thursday after preliminary felony drug charges were filed against him in Greene Superior Court.

Gilbert was also arrested in early May while standing in the front yard of Wayne K. “Bear” Smith, who has recently been accused of operating a methamphetamine lab at his residence near Midland.

The charges filed against Gilbert include: Possession of chemical reagents or precursors with the intent to manufacture, a class D felony; possession of marijuana, a class A misdemeanor; and possession of marijuana, a class D felony.

These latest charges stem from the day of his arrest in May. At that time, there were two warrants out for Gilbert’s arrest, from two different counties, both drug-related.

Gilbert was wanted in Sullivan County in a case involving the purchase of a drug containing more than three grams of pseudoephedrine or ephedrine in a seven-day period.

He was also wanted in Vigo County where a bench warrant had been issued for failure to appear in court in a case involving possession of a controlled substance, possession of a Schedule II controlled substance, operating a vehicle while intoxicated and possession of paraphernalia.

On May 2, Reserve Officer Randy Raney and Det. Josh Goodman, both of the Linton Police Department, located Gilbert standing with Smith in the front yard of Smith’s residence.

Gilbert was taken into custody on the two outstanding warrants and he was searched incident to the arrest.

According to a probable cause affidavit written by Officer Raney, Gilbert was found to have a number of drug-related items in his pockets at the time of the arrest: A lithium battery, two blister packs containing white pills that were labeled as containing pseudoephedrine, a sack containing numerous white pills which were sent to the lab, and a pill bottle containing a green plant-like material that officers believed was marijuana.

The affidavit states that during an interview after he was taken into custody and advised of his rights, Gilbert acknowledged that the items were going to be used to manufacture methamphetamine.

Following the May 2 arrest, Gilbert was transferred into the custody of the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Department.

Information on the dispositions of the cases in Sullivan and Vigo County was not immediately available.

Officer Raney also noted in the affidavit that Gilbert’s criminal history includes a prior conviction for possession of marijuana in Knox County in 2001.