A local woman recently arrested for sneaking into a local middle school and stealing cellphones has been arrested again after being accused of contaminating a Columbus Police Department squad car with fentanyl.
Officers were sent to Walmart at 735 Whitfield Drive at 2:50 a.m. Tuesday to check on a report of a woman, later identified as Alexis R. Daniels, 20, of 1901 W. Northgate Drive, who store employees said was acting suspiciously inside the store.
When officers found her, they confirmed the store had earlier trespassed her from the property, and placed her under arrest, said Lt. Matt Harris, Columbus Police Department spokesman. She was patted down for weapons and contraband before being taken to the Bartholomew County Jail, he said.
Upon arriving at the jail, officers observed a white substance on Daniels’ hands and on the floorboard in the police car beneath where she was seated, Harris said. The white substance later tested positive as mixture of heroin and fentanyl, Harris said.
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The patrol car was quarantined and the interior was later cleaned by members of the Joint Narcotics Enforcement Team and Indiana State Police Clandestine Lab Team.
Daniels was arrested on the following preliminary charges: trespassing, obstruction of justice and possession of a narcotic drug. She was being held at the Bartholomew County Jail on $57,500 bond, jail officials said Tuesday.
On Sept. 16, Daniels made her first court appearance in Bartholomew Superior Court 1 about the Central Middle School case involving the theft of three cellphones and a backpack from a locker room.
Daniels has been formally charged with three counts of theft, all Level 6 felonies, court documents state. Those charges were filed in Bartholomew Superior Court after the Aug. 13 thefts from the Central girl’s locker room.
A probable cause affidavit filed Aug. 23 by two investigating Columbus Police officers, Eric Kapczynski and Brian Kushman, provided additional details on the case not previously released to the public.
The initial complaint from Central Middle School, 725 Seventh St., was made the morning of Aug. 13 concerning a possible stolen bicycle, Kapczynski wrote.
But when staff member Marisa Willment called school resource officer Sgt. Julie Quesenbery, Willment’s main concern was a young female seen leaving the Central campus on a bicycle just as morning classes were getting underway, the affidavit stated.
Surveillance video shows the female suspect, later identified as Daniels, entering through the school’s Door 2 at 7:30 a.m. when many students entered for the day. The female remained in the nearby bathroom until the bell rang, and then walked around the school looking for things to possibly steal, according to the probable cause affidavit.
While police confirmed the bicycle had not been reported stolen from the middle school, Kushman wrote that he recognized Daniels from a previous call of a possible stolen bike in the area of the Bartholomew County Library.
It was after Quesenbery radioed for all available units to check the area for Daniels that Kapczynski arrived at the Central campus, the affidavit states. The officer found three students in the front office who all said their cellphones had been stolen from the downstairs girls’ locker room.
One stolen cell phone was first tracked by pinging it to Columbus North High School before it was seen moving south along Central Avenue, the affidavit stated. The phone then crossed to the east side of Haw Creek, and became stationary near the Foundation for Youth (FFY), 405 Hope Avenue, Kapzynski wrote.
In a supplemental report, Kushman wrote that as he approached FFY, he saw a young female get out of a silver or light-colored Jeep Cherokee in the Five Points area near the Cummins Tech Center.
As the officer approached the SUV, Daniels quickly walked away, while the Jeep Cherokee drove north on Hope Avenue, Kushman wrote.
Kushman watched as the female stopped next to a small fence and dropped items over the other side, the affidavit stated. But the officer was able to quickly recover those items, which were confirmed to be the three stolen cellphones, Kushman wrote in the affidvit.
Neither the stolen backpack nor the Jeep Cherokee, which was being driven by a man Daniels identified as Michael Gooden, have been located, the affidavit stated. But since the young female matched the description of the suspect at Central, Kushman felt he had probable cause to arrest Daniels and take her to the Bartholomew County Jail.
During the drive, Daniels heard an emergency dispatch that stated a fourth stolen cellphone could be in the Edinburgh area, Kapzynski wrote.
That prompted Daniels, who had earlier refused to talk to police after being given her Miranda rights, to immediately tell the officers she had only taken three phones, the affidavit stated.
Daniels had been out of jail under a program that allows offenders to be released without having to post bond, according to court records. Worton has issued an order that forbids her from being on any school property in Bartholomew County.
