By John Estridge
A Franklin County woman wanted on a Level 2 Felony warrant out of Dearborn County was stopped in Brookville Friday morning, October 9, at the intersection of 5th and Long streets.
When she got to the Franklin County Security Center, police allege they found more than 10 grams of methamphetamine on her body with one of the bags falling to the floor and breaking open. A Brookville Police Officer had to be rushed to the hospital while other jail officers were taken to Margaret Mary Health Center for observation.
According to an Affidavit of Probable Cause, written by Brookville Police Department Sgt. Ryan Geiser, he was routinely patrolling in Brookville Friday morning when he passed a vehicle heading the opposite direction. Geiser said he recognized the person driving the other vehicle, Kari C. McDaniel, 45, Big Cedar Road, Brookville.
Geiser recognized McDaniel due to earlier interactions regarding McDaniel and law enforcement, Geiser said. He also remembered an Indiana State Police bulletin about McDaniel saying there was a warrant out for her arrest out of Dearborn County.
He pulled McDaniel over at the intersection of 5th and Long streets at 10:45 a.m.
Geiser and Brookville Police Department Officer Sam Williams took McDaniel to the FCSC. At the FCSC, McDaniel was searched. Police allege they found three separately wrapped plastic bags of what is believed to be methamphetamine in her groin area. That search also found eight additional empty bags and multiple hypodermic syringes. A scale was located in her vehicle and a pipe was recovered from one of her body cavities.
“During the search, one of the bags hit the ground and appeared to have ruptured,” Geiser said in the Probable Cause Affidavit. “As he was collecting the spilled substance, Officer Williams inadvertently made contact with his face and immediately became very ill.”
Geiser said meth is often cut with fentanyl, which can be fatal, if ingested, even in small amounts.
Geiser confronted McDaniel about the presence of fentanyl. She told Geiser it was all “ice.” Geiser said ice is street slang for meth.
Williams was transported to an area hospital and several members of the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department jail staff were taken to Margaret Mary Health Center for observation.
Geiser said, at the time of his writing the affidavit, 4:23 p.m., Friday, October 9, Williams had been treated and released from the hospital.
According to Geiser, the meth allegedly found on McDaniel weighed 14 grams. The substance was sent to a crime laboratory for confirmatory analysis.
Geiser said the amount on McDaniel, the multiple syringes and the presence of a scale plus due to his experience as a police officer, makes him believe McDaniel’s amount of meth was for dealing purposes.
Franklin County Prosecutor Chris Huerkamp seemed to agree with Geiser’s analysis and on Tuesday, October 13, charged McDaniel with Dealing in Methamphetamine 10 or more grams, as a Level 2 Felony.
In Dearborn County, McDaniel is facing Dealing in Methamphetamine 10 or more grams, as a Level 2 Felony; Dealing in Methamphetamine between one and five grams, as a Level 4 Felony; and Dealing in a Schedule III Controlled Substance with a weight between five and 10 grams, as a Level 4 Felony.
Her charges in Dearborn County came in December 2019 and January 2020. The warrant for her arrest was issued September 15.
If she is convicted of a Level 2 Felony, McDaniel could receive a sentence between 10 and 30 years in prison. A Level 4 conviction can result in a sentence of two to 12 years in prison.