Pubdate: Fri, 23 Sep 2005
Source: Noblesville Ledger, The (IN)
Copyright: 2005 Indiana Newspapers
Contact:  http://www.thenoblesvilleledger.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3943
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Author: Diana Lamirand

GUN-TOTING DRUG DEALERS DOUBLE

Police Confiscate 43 Firearms In '04 Drug Busts After 17 In '03

NOBLESVILLE -- The high stakes involved in drug dealing in Hamilton 
County has created more danger than ever before for undercover drug 
task-force officers.

A person being arrested by the Hamilton/Boone County Drug Task Force 
in 2004 was 21/2 times more likely to carry a gun or have one in 
their possession than those arrested the previous year, according to 
the task force's annual criminal statistics report.

"We are seeing more presence of guns in (drug-related) transactions 
than ever before," said Hamilton County Prosecutor Sonia Leerkamp. 
"That has just escalated tremendously."

The 16-member drug task force -- officers from Carmel, Noblesville, 
Fishers, Zionsville and the Hamilton County Sheriff's Department -- 
confiscated 43 firearms in 2004 on arrested persons, in their 
vehicles or in their homes, said task force director Randy Schalburg. 
In 2003, 17 firearms were seized, and just two were confiscated in 2002.

Schalburg attributes the increased gun use to the large amounts of 
cash involved in buying and selling drugs.

"Everybody in that game owes somebody money and everybody in that 
game knows they have somebody who owes them money," the Carmel police 
major said, explaining that drug dealers often use guns to protect 
themselves against robbery.

"These people are very selfish people and they're cowards," he added. 
"That's the bottom line. It's a pretty volatile area."

The task force also seized $3.7 million, in street value, of 
marijuana and other illegal drugs during the past year, according to 
the report. Controlled substances such as opium, morphine, LSD, 
anabolic steroids and depressants were by far the biggest one-year 
increase in drugs confiscated. Grams of powder cocaine increased by 
nearly 64 grams, marijuana plants were up by 328 and loose marijuana 
was up by about 37 pounds.

"For the most part in Hamilton County, (the drugs of choice are) 
probably still marijuana and cocaine," Leerkamp said. "There does not 
seem to have been the attraction to methamphetamine, which is good."

One crime during the past year that involved cocaine and guns was the 
death of Ethan Holley, 18, of Westfield, who was shot and killed Nov. 
4, 2004. Three Hamilton County men are accused of shooting Holley 
while trying to collect a $300 cocaine debt, according to Chief 
Deputy Prosecutor Barbara Trathen. The men, Jeremy Black, 18, Carmel, 
and Noel Shuck, 30, and Richard Short, 21, both of Noblesville, await 
trial on murder and criminal recklessness with a firearm charges in 
November and January.

In June, Alyssa "Aly" McCann, 26, of Carmel died after suspected drug 
dealer Robert L. Gunnell, 28, of Indianapolis bolted from a police 
stop and crashed his car into the driver's side door of McCann's car 
at 169th Street and Springmill Road. On Monday, Gunnell's trial on 
murder and drug charges was continued to Feb. 6.

Intelligence gathered by the task force indicated that Gunnell was 
known to carry guns, Schalburg said. Officers found a firearm lying 
on the ground near Gunnell after the crash, Leerkamp said.

In the 15 years since the task force was formed, police officers and 
informants have been robbed, shot at and injured, Schalburg said, 
"but we had not had anything like what happened to this young lady."

McCann was driving home about 7:30 p.m. on June 29 when the fatal 
crash occurred. She died a few hours after the accident from internal injuries.

The drug task force had been investigating Gunnell for dealing 
cocaine, Schalburg said, and had set up a third drug buy and planned 
to arrest him that evening. Leerkamp, who sits on a board that 
oversees the task force, said at least two or three drug transactions 
must be made with a suspect before he's arrested to prevent him from 
using entrapment as a defense.

"Usually, it's just two or three because they don't want to drag it 
out unnecessarily," Leerkamp said. "They want to bring that person 
down and then see if that person can give them someone higher up the 
food chain."

The task force arranged for two uniformed police officers to stop 
Gunnell for traffic violations before he reached the drug-buy 
rendezvous point. The plan went awry, however, when Gunnell fled from 
the traffic stop, drove through the yard of a private residence then 
slammed into McCann at the intersection.

"In this particular case, I won't get into what we could have done 
different or if we should have done anything different," Schalburg 
said, explaining that the task force tries to reach a successful 
conclusion with each case. "This was no different. We felt this was 
the best course of action."

Most drug transactions take place in very public places such as 
restaurants, parking lots and malls, he said, and there's always a 
chance that the suspect will flee to avoid arrest.

"These guys won't do it out in the middle of a field," he said, 
adding that whether the officers try to make an arrest in a public 
area or serve a search warrant on a house, the suspect may run or 
come out shooting.

"There's no guaranteed safe way to make an arrest," Schalburg said. 
"It's very unfortunate what happened (McCann's death) here. It was tough.

"Obviously, it was a horrible thing to happen for that family," he 
added. "It's something that they'll never get back . . . I really 
feel for them."
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MAP posted-by: Elizabeth Wehrman