28 drug dealers arrested in Huntington

HUNTINGTON, Ind. (WANE) - Before the sun came up, dozens of police officers were getting ready to hit the streets of Huntington, armed with arrest warrants for 31 people.

A year-long investigation led to Thursday morning's arrests. "Operation Huntington Cocktail" targeted the prescription drug trade in Huntington.

"In the last few years, a lot of young men and women were dying needlessly from the mixing of prescription drugs," Tom Emely, Huntington Police Department Chief, said. "They were overdosing and killing themselves."

At 6 a.m., nine teams of officers set out to arrest their assigned suspects. Three hours later, 28 people were caught and being booked into jail. They face a combined total of 63 charges, almost all of them felonies.

"We still have teams out there looking [for the last three]. Hopefully we'll get the rest of them today. If not, we'll look until we do," Chief Emely said.

NewsChannel 15 was along for the ride with one team of officers. Of the three people the team was given, two are now under arrest.

"Some of the people were not found at residences we thought they'd be found at. They were found at other people's houses or a relative's or friend's house," Sgt. Ron Galaviz from the Indiana State Police said.

It was a busy morning of driving to several homes. When police arrived at a home, several times they were given another address to go check.

"[The suspects] go from place to place. They burn out one place and then find somewhere else to go. They don't have a steady home. That's the game they play, but we're here to play," Sgt. Jay Kyle, a Huntington police officer, said.

The Huntington Police Department did the main investigation, but the Indiana State Police, Huntington County Sheriff, Roanoke Police, Markle Police and Warren Police Departments all helped make arrests Thursday.

"This is one of the largest we've had in our community," Chief Emely said. "It will slow things down for a while, but we'll see it slowly come back. We always are staying on top of it and investigating."

The following is a list of the people arrested and the charges they face:

Brandon Bryant, 26, Incarcerated, Department of Corrections (Chain O’Lakes): Dealing Schedule I, II or III, Class B Felony, Dealing Marijuana >30g, Class A Misdemeanor

Shelia Byrd, 38, Huntington, IN: Dealing Schedule I, II or III, Class B Felony, Dealing Schedule I, II or III, Class B Felony

William Byrd, 48, Huntington, IN: Dealing Schedule I, II or III, Class B Felony, Dealing Schedule I, II, or III, Class B Felony, Dealing Marijuana <30g, Class A Misdemeanor.

Michael Catlin, 25, Huntington, IN: Dealing Schedule I, II or III, Class A Felony, Dealing Schedule I, II or III, Class A Felony, Dealing Schedule IV, Class B Felony

Vickie Creed, 44, Huntington, IN: Dealing Schedule I, II or III, Class A Felony, Dealing Schedule IV, Class C Felony

Zachary Cutshall, 23, Andrews, IN: Dealing Schedule I, II or III, Class B Felony (2 counts), Dealing Marijuana >30g, Class C Felony

Robert Dennis, 34, Huntington, IN: Dealing Schedule I, II or III, Class A Felony, Dealing Schedule I, II or III, Class B Felony

Tanner Dennis, 23, Huntington, IN: Dealing Schedule I, II or III, Class A Felony, Dealing Marijuana >30g, Class D Felony

Kenneth Duckworth, 26, Huntington, IN: Dealing Schedule I, II or III, Class A Felony, Dealing Schedule I, II or III, Class B Felony (2 counts)

Michael Green, 27, Huntington, IN: Dealing Marijuana <30g, Class D Felony, Dealing Marijuana >30g, Class D Felony

Levi Hinman, 19, Roanoke, IN: Dealing Marijuana >30g, Class D Felony, Dealing Marijuana < 30g, Class A Misdemeanor

Michael Huffman, 32, Huntington, IN: Dealing Marijuana >30g, Class C Felony, Dealing Marijuana >30g, Class C Felony

David Lawhorn, 28, Huntington, IN: Dealing Schedule I, II or III, Class A Felony, Dealing Schedule I, II or III, Class A Felony

Zachary Martin, 22, Huntington, IN: Dealing Schedule I, II or III, Class A Felony, Dealing Schedule I, II or III, Class B Felony, Dealing Schedule I, II or III, Class B Felony

Jonathan McDaniel, 25: Dealing Schedule I, II or III, Class A Felony, Dealing Schedule I, II or III, Class B Felony

Christopher O’Connor, 28, Huntington, IN: Dealing Schedule I, II or III, Class A Felony (2 counts), Dealing Schedule I, II or III, 35-48-4-2, B-Felony, Dealing Legend Drug, Class D Felony, Dealing Legend Drug, Class D Felony

David Phillips, 27, Huntington, IN: Dealing Schedule I, II or III, Class A Felony

Jeremy Pritchard, 21, Huntington, IN: Dealing Schedule I, II or III, Class A Felony, Dealing Marijuana >30g, Class D Felony

Wanda Shepperd, 42, Huntington, IN: Dealing Schedule I, II or III, Class B Felony, Dealing Schedule IV, Class B Felony, Dealing Schedule I, II or II, Class B Felony

Joshua Simon, 29, Huntington, IN: Dealing Legend Drug, Class D Felony, Dealing Legend Drug, Class D Felony

James Sosh, 23, Huntington, IN: Dealing Schedule I, II or III, Class A Felony, Dealing Schedule I, II or III, Class A Felony

 

Doris Spencer, 55, Huntington,