Indianapolis, Center Township Constable faces potential felony charges
Center Township Constable Denise Paul Hatch has been jailed for allegedly violating a judge’s order earlier this year, in a previous felony case, to not carry a firearm, even though she is a Law Enforcement Officer. Hatch is being charged with her third run of Official Misconduct, a felony.
Hatch had been providing private off-duty security alongside several of her deputy constables on Saturday evening, when she was confronted by Indianapolis Metro Police as she possessed a loaded 9 mm Glock handgun in a holster along with a MECA police radio, her constable badge, two ID cards, handcuffs, and soft body armor.
Hatch will appear before the Judge this morning. Hatch has been investigated several times over the past year on allegations of interfering with police, along with several other incidents.
City’s Bryan Park and Mills Pools, Community Foundation Switchyard Plaza Spray Pad, Open May 25 for the 2024 Season
The City’s two outdoor pools, Bryan Park Pool at 1020 S. Woodlawn Ave. and Mills Pool at 1100 W. 14th St., open for the 2024 season at 11am May 25. The Community Foundation Switchyard Plaza Spray Pad at Switchyard Park, 1601 S. Rogers St., opens May 25 at 10am Spray pad hours are 10am until 8pm daily, with free admission.
Bryan Park Pool and Mills Pool are open daily, weather permitting, from May 25 through Aug. 4, from 11am until 7 p.m. Admission is $6 per person. Season passes, good for unlimited admissions for a single individual to Bryan Park Pool and Mills Pool during the 2024 season, are $70 each and are available for purchase at Bryan Park Pool. Economy 20-Punch Passes, good for a total of 20 admissions for anyone to either pool, are $90 each and are available for purchase at Bryan Park Pool and Mills Pool.
Pool admission fee waivers are available from Bloomington Parks and Recreation for those who qualify. Apply online for a pool admission fee waiver, or call Parks and Recreation at 812-349-3700 for more information.
Bryan Park Pool hosts three, two-week sessions of swim lessons this summer. All sessions include levels from Guardian and Toddler (for young children who need constant support in the water) through Level 4 (for children ages 6-14 years). The first session begins June 3, with a registration deadline of May 27. Swim lesson fees are $65 per person for Bloomington residents and $75 per person for out-of-city residents; scholarships are available for swim lessons from the Bloomington Parks Foundation. Browse the classes and dates for upcoming swim lesson sessions, or apply online for a scholarship for swim lessons, summer camps, or other Parks and Recreation programs.
Evansville Snapchat Fentanyl Dealer responsible for at least 3 overdoses and teen’s death sentenced to 20 years
Jeremial Lee Leach, 20, of Evansville, Indiana has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, after pleading guilty to one count of Distribution of Fentanyl Resulting in Death, one count of distribution of fentanyl, and one count of distribution of fentanyl resulting in serious bodily injury.
According to court documents, Leach is responsible for dealing fentanyl resulting in at least three overdoses, one of which resulted in the death of a 19-year-old. Leach advertised fentanyl-laced counterfeit pills over Snapchat to hundreds of recipients using the alias “Mel.”
On June 25, 2022, at approximately, Officers with the Evansville Police Department (EPD) responded to a residence on Wedeking Avenue in reference to the overdose of a woman. The woman was revived with naloxone. Later the same day, EPD officers responded to the same residence for the overdose of another woman, just nineteen years old, who subsequently died. The coroner located a counterfeit oxycodone pill containing fentanyl on the deceased woman’s person. The cause of both overdoses was determined to be fentanyl intoxication.
Investigators searched the deceased victim’s phone and found conversations between her and Jeremial “Mel” Leach in which they discussed a transaction for the purchase of pills they identified as “blues.” Leach gave her his address on Shanklin Avenue and confirmed the price for the sale of the pills.
On August 20, 2022, at approximately 4:15 p.m., EPD officers were dispatched to a restaurant located on Hirschland Road concerning an overdose. Upon arrival, the officers located a woman sitting on the ground in the parking lot of the restaurant, not alert and beginning to lose consciousness. An officer administered naloxone and, a short time later, the woman began to regain consciousness. The woman advised first responders and medical personnel that she had taken a 30 mg tablet of oxycodone. The women’s companion identified Leach as the supplier of the pill and the location of the purchase as a residence on Shanklin Avenue.
Investigators with the Evansville-Vanderburgh County Drug Task Force observed Leach conduct additional apparent drug deals at his residence, subsequently executing a search warrant at Leach’s residence on Shanklin Avenue. Leach exited the front door of the home and was taken into custody by detectives. Some of the items located and seized during the search included 33 blue pills marked “30,” a digital scale, two 9mm pistols, and approximately $1,843 in cash. The pills seized during the two traffic stops and from Leach’s residence were submitted for laboratory analysis and tested positive for the presence of fentanyl.
One Pill Can Kill: Avoid pills bought on the street because One Pill Can Kill. Fentanyl is a highly potent opioid that drug dealers dilute with cutting agents to make counterfeit prescription pills that appear to be Oxycodone, Percocet, Xanax, and other drugs. Fentanyl is used because it’s cheap. Small variations in the quantity or quality of fentanyl in a fake prescription pill can accidentally create a lethal dosage. Fentanyl has now become the leading cause of drug poisoning deaths in the United States. Fake prescription pills laced with fentanyl are usually shaped and colored to look like pills sold at pharmacies, like Percocet and Xanax. For example, fake prescription pills known as “M30s” imitate Oxycodone obtained from a pharmacy, but when sold on the street the pills routinely contain fentanyl. These particular pills are usually round tablets and often light blue in color, though they may be in different shapes and a rainbow of colors. They often have “M” and “30” imprinted on opposite sides of the pill. Do not take these or any other pills bought on the street – they are routinely fake and poisonous, and you won’t know until it’s too late.
This Week in Hoosier History
1905 – Work began on the Tulip Trestle east of Bloomfield in Greene County. Finished in December of 1906, the 2,307 foot-long steel-girded railroad bridge is one of the longest in the world still in use.
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