Police arrested two Bartholomew County residents on felony charges after finding a large amount of stolen property including guns, motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles after serving a search warrant.
Officers went to the residence at 1275 Jonesville Road on Tuesday evening after receiving a complaint of stolen property at the home, said Lt. Matt Harris, Columbus Police Department spokesman.
They found a stolen motorcycle and a large amount of other suspected stolen property while there, Harris said.
After securing a search warrant for the two-acre property, more than a dozen officers and detectives from the Columbus Police Department and Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department spent two days checking the serial numbers on hundreds of different items, Harris said.
During the investigation, the officers were able to track the stolen property back to thefts reported in Indiana as well as Kentucky. The investigators also determined that several of the vehicles in question had false identification numbers. The officers recovered a number of firearms, one of which was reported stolen and second that had the serial number scraped off.
The officers also located part of a methamphetamine lab on the property as well as drug paraphernalia, marijuana and methamphetamine, Harris said.
Arrested were Shawn K. Miller, 40, of Columbus, on preliminary charges of theft, felon in possession of a firearm, possession of methamphetamine, possession of marijuana, possession of a syringe, possession of drug paraphernalia, manufacturing methamphetamine, possession of a vehicle with an altered VIN, maintaining a common nuisance, possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.
Also arrested was Amie S. Chapman, 31, of Columbus on preliminary charges of maintaining a common nuisance and possession of drug paraphernalia.
For more on this story, see Friday’s Republic.