-- — Within the past year, two persons died of heroin overdoses in Franklin County, one in rural Batesville, Deputy Jason Lovins told Sheriff Ken Murphy June 29.

In Ripley County, heroin killed one Sunman resident, Ripley County Sheriff Tom Grills heard.

It’s hard to deny this area has a heroin problem when facts like this are revealed.

In February, a Franklin County deputy discovered a Lafayette man walking on U.S. 52 to Brookville after getting in a fight at a Laurel residence. When the deputy approached, “the guy threw a cotton glove away.” In it were a hypodermic needle and heroin. “I helped put this guy in a padded cell,” Murphy recalled. Several days later, authorities learned the man had a broken arm from the fight. “Until the heroin wore off, this guy didn’t even know he was injured.”

Other authorities are hearing about the illegal and dangerous drug now more than they used to. While Grills has not seen a recent increase in heroin dealing charges, Ripley County deputies have arrested more persons than in the past for possessing it.

Ripley County Prosecutor Ric Hertel observed that because “heroin is more accessible ... and affordable, now I am filing dealing and possession charges.” He acknowledged, “There is a problem in Batesville, but the problem extends beyond the city limits. In fact, the further south in the county, the problem is as great or greater.”

The Franklin County sheriff reported two were arrested for dealing heroin in the last six months. One sold it within 1,000 feet of Brookville’s city park, which brought a longer sentence. He pleaded guilty and was sent to the Indiana Department of Corrections a month ago.

Just like the science teacher on the TV show “Breaking Bad,” “you would be surprised as to who is dealing heroin in your community,” said Indiana State Police Drug Enforcement Section Detective Tami Watson, Indianapolis, at the June 28 forum on heroin in Batesville.

Franklin Circuit Court Division 2 Judge Clay Kellerman said June 29 that Division 1, overseen by Judge Steven Cox, has recently seen an increase in heroin filings. Also, the probation department has seen “a little bit of an increase” in juvenile charges where “some of the underlying problems have been heroin related.”

Grills said heroin “breaks families and causes people to do terrible things.”

Watson pointed out, “In order to get money to maintain their habits, these kids are going to do whatever it takes.”

Murphy maintained, “We’ve got ... a monumental drug problem that is driving the criminal market ... we call them hunters and gatherers. Cavemen had to get up every morning to go out and kill something to eat. These guys have to go out every morning to steal something to sell to buy more drugs.”

“Probably a good 75- 80 percent of burglaries and thefts are being driven by drug problems.”

Heroin addicts were responsible for two Brookville business robberies, at the former First Financial and the Shell gas station, he said.

Batesville Police Chief Stan Holt said his officers have not arrested anyone on heroin charges recently. However, “more and more” property crime investigations are “coming back to being drug related, a lot directly to heroin, to support their habits.”

He added that after some parents reported thefts of valuables from residences, they “suspected something may be going on with their kids” or teen friends who visited the homes.

Hertel discovered some stolen items “were being traded directly for the drug in the Cincinnati area.”

The Franklin County sheriff has noticed an uptick in persons stealing vehicle batteries. Why? Thieves can get $8 for each by taking them to scrap recycling centers.

Perhaps the reason more haven’t been arrested for selling the drug in Ripley and Franklin counties is because it is being purchased outside of this area.

Murphy noted, “Nowadays if they’ve got it in Cincinnati or Indianapolis, anybody in Batesville can have anything they want in an hour. We have kids who are regularly driving to Cincinnati buying heroin .... These kids are chipping in money and sending one guy to buy their heroin for them. I know sooner or later one of them is going to end up shot to death. There are so many things that can go wrong with this.”

The sheriff explained the problem is broader than just heroin. “Right now we get all in a froth about what the current drug problem is. Now the focus is on heroin. Next week it may be cocaine or methamphetamines. What we have to understand, it’s not a heroin problem, it’s a drug problem ... We still have one heck of an OxyContin problem. Prescription drugs are still the No. 1 seller. The pills are a dime a dozen.”

Then he had dismaying news. “We’re not going to win the drug war. Look at the trillions and trillions of dollars we’ve put into this. We didn’t win Prohibition. We do not have the resources to stop the drug problem. The American public has an insatiable appetite for cocaine and heroin – and drugs. We’re going to continue working it. We can’t stop the drug problem, but we can do our best to let these people know we’re going to be after them.”

The prosecutor said, “The goal of the juvenile justice system is rehabilitation, and I agree and am bound by that. However, I believe that there must be accountability for these crimes and delinquent acts. That accountability is sometimes difficult to determine, especially when trying to balance addiction problems with the public\'s safety.”

Franklin County Deputy Don Speckman was assigned to attend the heroin forum here. Ironically, instead he was dispatched to a possible heroin overdose in rural Batesville and never made it to the meeting. Murphy said the user was driven in a private vehicle to the hospital. When Speckman was asked how he knew the overdose was caused by heroin and not other substances, the deputy reported seeing needle tracks on the man’s arms.

The next day around 2 p.m., a female was arrested in Brookville “with black tar heroin in her possession.” The sheriff explained that during a traffic stop, a deputy became suspicious of her behavior and called in a police dog. “The dog went around the car and hit on it.”

Two heroin incidents two days in a row. “That might give you an idea of the extent of the problem we’re dealing with.”