Meth bust includes father, son and son’s wife

Date Posted: February 1, 2009

KIMMELL — Five people were arrested on drug charges Friday night after police executing a search warrant on three apartments in Kimmell allegedly discovered three active methamphetamine labs.

The suspects included a father and son and the son’s wife.

Steve L. Pickens, 50, of Kimmell, his son, William D. Pickens, 26, of Oswego, William Pickens’ wife, Heather L. Pickens, 26, of Warsaw, and Robert F. Howard, 53, and Gary S. Kay, 30, both of Kimmell, were booked into the Noble County Jail on unspecified charges.

At about 5:40 p.m. Friday, I.M.A.G.E. drug task force investigators served search warrants simultaneously on three apartments at 2939N U.S. 33 in Kimmell. Noble Superior Court Division I Judge Robert Kirsch issued the warrants.

Due the high risks associated with the manufacture of methamphetamine and the unpredictability of drug’s influence on the suspects, Noble County chief deputy Doug Harp, commander of the Noble County Special Operations Group, coordinated the search warrant execution with assistance from the Northeast Indiana SWAT team, according to a Noble County Sheriff’s Department news release. The SWAT team is made up of officers from law enforcement agencies in LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb counties.

Officers observed three active meth labs and called in the Indiana State Police Clandestine Lab Team to assist with dismantling the meth manufacturing processes.

Police also found several precursors to manufacture methamphetamine, an undisclosed quantity of methamphetamine, items used to process, ingest, weigh and sell methamphetamine and other illegal controlled substances.

Formal charges on all the suspects are pending until the investigation concludes and the Noble County prosecutor has reviewed the investigator’s report.

According to a press release from the Noble County Sheriff’s Department, the arrests culminated a four-month investigation by the I.M.A.G.E. drug task force.

Officers from the Noble County Sheriff’s Department, the Ligonier Police Department and Albion Police Department, and the Cromwell Fire Department and Noble County EMS assisted at the scene.

By Dennis Nartker – KPC Media