Police Chief Chat

Drug Watch :
On Thursday, August 25, 2011 at approximately 6:00 a.m. members of the South Central Drug Task Force, Phelps County Sheriff’s Department, Rolla Police Department, St. James Police Department and the Missouri State Highway Patrol gathered at the Phelps County Sheriff’s Department and formulated a plan of attack on the execution of over 25 grand jury indictments handed down in relation to illegal drug activity here in Phelps County. Arrest teams comprised of officers from the aforementioned agencies were provided with defendant arrest packets the included the grand jury indictment, location information and photos of the arrestees. Within minutes teams were returning to the Sheriff’s Department with the arrestees in custody. The defendants were forwarded through the booking process that includes photos, fingerprints, an interview and then incarceration. pending bond

This operation stems from the conclusion of a long term narcotics investigation conducted in Phelps County. Over the course of approximately 18 months officers with the South Central Drug Task Force, Phelps County Sheriff’s Department and Rolla Police Department’s Street Crimes Unit, were able to conduct a series of narcotics investigations involving the distribution/sales/possession of methamphetamine, cocaine, marijuana, heroin and prescription medications. The investigation involved loosely affiliated individuals in and around the Phelps County area. This investigation was aided by the 25th Judicial Circuit and the Phelps County Grand Jury that was convened by their authority. Grand Jury Indictments for each defendant were obtained through the Phelps County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, prior to the mass operation initiated this morning.
The following individuals were arrested:

• Romero C. Miller, 28, Rolla, Missouri, Phelps County Warrant for distribution, deliver, manufacture, produce a controlled substance;
• Melissa D. Parks, 28, Rolla, Phelps County Warrant for distribution, deliver, manufacture, produce a controlled substance (three counts);
• Sheila D. Quigley, 23, Rolla, Phelps County Warrant for distribution deliver, manufacture, produce a controlled substance;
• Daniel A. Jones, 33, Rolla, Phelps County Warrant for distribution, deliver, manufacture, produce a controlled substance (three counts);
• Donald J. Colvin, 52, Rolla, Phelps County Warrants for distribution deliver, manufacture, produce a controlled substance and felony possession of a controlled substance;
• Ashlee Smith, 24, Rolla, Phelps County Warrant for distribution deliver, manufacture, produce a controlled substance;
• Sean R. Barber, 38, St. James, Missouri, Phelps County Warrant for distribution, deliver, manufacture, produce a controlled substance;
• Joyce D. Glenn, 45, St. James, Phelps County Warrant for distribution, deliver, manufacture, produce a controlled substance;
• Tabitha A. Lewis, 23, St. James, Phelps County Warrant for possession of a controlled substance (two counts);
• Jamieann E. Heidbreder, 20, St. James, Phelps County Warrant for possession of chemicals with intent to manufacture methamphetamine;
• Terrell O. Luster, 38, St. Louis, Missouri, Phelps County Warrant for possession of a controlled substance;
• Clark S. Watson Jr., 40, Rolla, Phelps County Warrants for possession of a controlled substance and distribution or deliver of not more than 5 grams of marijuana;
• Denise M. Ward, 29, Rolla, Phelps County Warrant for distribution, deliver, manufacture, produce a controlled substance (three counts);
• Brandi L. Dvorak, 28, Rolla, Phelps County Warrant for distribution, deliver, manufacture, produce a controlled substance (two counts);
• Dwan L. Estep, 28, St. James, Phelps County Warrants for possession of chemicals with intent to manufacture methamphetamine and possession of a controlled substance;
• Travis D. Mathews, 23, Rolla, Phelps County Warrant for possession of a controlled substance;
• Larry T. Nason, 31, Rolla, Phelps County Warrant for possession of a controlled substance;
• Larry G. Forester, 62, Newburg, Missouri, Phelps County Warrant for possession of a controlled substance;
• Charles E. Faulkner Jr., 52, Rolla, Phelps County Warrants for possession of a controlled substance (three counts) and manufacture of a controlled substance;
• Dennis Elms Jr., 31, Rolla, Phelps County Warrant for possession of chemicals with intent to manufacture methamphetamine;
• Dixie Faulkner, 22, Rolla, Phelps County Warrant for possession of a controlled substance;
• Dennis R. Neese, Rolla, Phelps County Warrant for distribution, deliver, manufacture, produce a controlled substance (three counts) and
• Jerry L. Bonebrake II, 24, Rolla, Phelps County Warrant for distribution, deliver, manufacture, produce a controlled substance.

Also arrested during the round-up, for non drug related charges, were:

Virgil V. Gargus III, 31, St. James, Phelps County Warrant for Child Molestation, first degree and
Heather Steffe, 25, Rolla, Phelps County Warrant for stealing (eight counts).
Gargus was arrested as a result of an investigation conducted by the Phelps County Sheriff’s Department. The arrest of Steffe was a result of an investigation by the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s Division of Drug and Crime Control. The charges for which these individuals have been arrested are mere accusations and are not evidence of guilt. Evidence in support of the charges must be presented before a court of competent jurisdiction whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

The South Central Drug Task Force is a multi-jurisdictional drug task force coordinated by the Missouri State Highway Patrol. The task force specializes in narcotics related investigations and is composed of narcotics officers by the Missouri State Highway Patrol, Phelps County Sheriff’s Department and Rolla Police Department, as well as directly employed specialists. As you can imagine, those that abuse and deal in illegal drugs are determined to keep their operation strong and secretive and will go to great lengths to do so. Just the fact that our combined law enforcement efforts are able to consistently infiltrate these operations and bring the perpetrators to justice says a lot. Here in Phelps County the Phelps County Sheriff’s Department, Missouri State Highway Patrol, Rolla and St. James Police Department, South Central Drug Task Force, Phelps County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, and the 25th Judicial Circuit Court work hand in hand to reach one common goal and that is to keep the citizens in our community safe and those that deal in illegal drug activity wondering when they are next!

This past week, the Rolla Police Department handled 848 calls for service. Of these calls there were: 32 arrests, 22 alarms, 19 accidents, 60 traffic complaints, 11 check the well being, 147 traffic stops, 31 disturbance (including domestics), 15 suspicious nature, 19 assists of other agencies, 6 narcotics violations, 28 security checks, 15 escorts, 23 follow up investigations, 3 fights, 3 fingerprint requests and 3 trespassing complaints. This call total is up 136 calls from last week and yes, another busy week!

Unbelievable! One more person and we have 7000 loyal FaceBook fans. We started our FaceBook page in December of 2009 as a tool to keep the public better informed and to open communication between the Police Department and the community we serve. We are so proud of how it’s turned out. Our page is employee controlled, so whoever wants to post does so on their own. Some believed that this practice would not work, and said, “you cannot let employees do that, it will cause problems”. Well, those folks were wrong, it has worked and we have not had any problems. We are constantly trying to come up with ways to improve our FaceBook page such as the addition of crime mapping and the media log links and will continue to work toward this goal. We continually feature stories and situations from our many in-house divisions such as Patrol, VIPS, Behind the Badge, Street Crimes, Housing Officer, Criminal Investigations, Call Stats and new employee introductions. Thank you to all the employees and to our fans who continue to make our Facebook site a success.

In closing, I learned this week of the passing of Phelps County Assessor Kevin Rasmussen. Kevin was always pleasant and showed a true compassion for his position and for the community he served. He will be truly missed. We will keep his family in our prayers.

Have a great week!

Chief Mark Kearse