Huntingburg man charged with multiple meth-related felonies.
A Deputy with the Dubois County Sheriff’s Office was patrolling Old Road 64 near County Road 750 South in Monday’s early morning hours and observed a blue pickup truck cross the double yellow lines from the westbound lane. The deputy attempted to initiate a stop at the intersection of Old Road 64 and Holland Road NE. The blue pickup truck continued swerving over both lanes at a rate of speed much lower than the posted limit without stopping.
2 Deputies had joined the pursuit in progress past County Road 625 West when the truck increased its speed of travel significantly. The chase continued on US 64 to the intersection of State Road 161 where a Deputy was waiting with his patrol parked on the northbound shoulder, south of the intersection. The deputy waited to deploy stop sticks on the truck when it abruptly approached the intersection and changed directions toward him. Eckert safely escaped the truck’s path as it continued westbound through the intersection for approximately a quarter mile at a high rate of speed. The truck then turned right on County Road 750, suddenly stopped, and turned off its running lights All 4 Deputies conducted a felony traffic stop on the pickup truck as a female passenger immediately exited the vehicle from the passenger side. She was ordered to the ground in detained swiftly as the driver followed orders to exit the vehicle and was identified.
31-year-old Leonel A. Hernandez, of Huntingburg, was then searched and had a small, circular glass jar containing a white crystal-like substance in his front left pocket. Both Hernandez and the female passenger were detained for questioning and Hernandez was taken into custody. The female passenger was released as officers executed their right to search the vehicle prior to towing.
That investigation located a small treasure box containing a green leafy substance, two glass jar containers identical to the one located in Hernandez’s left front pocket containing crystal methamphetamine, and a black digital scale containing a white crystal-like powdery residue. He eventually disclosed to officers that the involved parties had been coming from a restaurant where Hernandez had smoked meth out of a glass pipe. It was later determined that he had been driving at slower rates of speed in an attempt to locate a plastic baggie containing a white, crystal-like/powder substance that had been thrown out of the vehicle window prior to the police encounter.
A search order was granted for Hernandez’s resident and the restaurant. The search of his residence located a syringe and a large amount of unidentified white powder. Officers located a glass smoking pipe containing a burnt white residue and a white powdery substance that field tested positive for methamphetamine. Leonel A. Hernandez is now charged with the following:
Dealing in Methamphetamine, level 2 felony
Possession of Methamphetamine, level 3 felony
Dealing in Methamphetamine, level 4 felony
Attempted Battery on a Law Enforcement Officer With a Deadly Weapon, level 5 felony
Habitual Traffic Violator, level 6 felony
Possession of Methamphetamine, level 6 felony
Resisting Law Enforcement With a Motor Vehicle, level 6 felony Maintaining A Common Nuisance, level 6 felony
Criminal Recklessness With a Deadly Weapon, level 6 felony
Unlawful Possession of a Syringe, level 6 felony
Obstruction of Justice, level 6 felony
Possession of Paraphernalia, Class A misdemeanor
Possession of Marijuana, Class B misdemeanor
