At approximately 8 p.m. Thursday, traffic stops made by Indiana State Police Trooper Edward Titus, the Grant County Sheriff’s Department, and officers from the Gas City Police Department led to the arrests of Jamarr Parker, 25, Manheim, PA, Radames Vargas Jr., 27, Mountville, PA, and Christopher Brown-Conroy, 29, Lancaster, PA. They were incarcerated in the Grant County Jail.
Parker faces criminal charges for possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon, obstruction of justice, possession of a controlled substance, possession of marijuana, possession of a narcotic, and dealing a level two narcotic. Vargas faces charges of resisting law enforcement with a vehicle, possession of marijuana, possession of a narcotic, and dealing a level two narcotic. Brown-Conroy faces charges of obstruction of justice, possession of a narcotic, possession of marijuana, and dealing a level two narcotic. Parker was also found to be wanted on an arrest warrant from Pennsylvania for intimidation and a firearm charge.
Last night, Trooper Titus was on routine patrol when he allegedly observed a Chevrolet passenger car and a Ford passenger car commit traffic infractions on State Road 22 near Gas City. The vehicles appeared to be traveling together.
Gas City Police Sergeant Tommy Riggs arrived to assist with getting the vehicles stopped. He initiated a traffic stop on the Ford. The driver, later identified as Vargas Jr, refused to stop and led Riggs on a short pursuit. The chase ended when Vargas Jr stopped the Ford on East B Street near 2nd Street, in Gas City. Riggs and Titus conducted a felony stop on Vargas Jr and his passenger, Brown-Conroy, taking both men in custody. During a subsequent search of the Ford, officers allegedly found marijuana and approximately $6,180 in United States currency. Officers also recovered a bag containing hydrocodone pills that were purportedly thrown out of the Ford during the pursuit.
Gas City Police Officer Easton Burton and Grant County Sheriff’s Deputy Kody Lewis stopped the Chevrolet on East South B Street in Gas City. Lewis utilized his narcotics-detecting police dog to conduct a free-air sniff around the Chevrolet. The dog indicated the presence of narcotics inside the vehicle. During a subsequent search, officers allegedly found counterfeit fentanyl pills, marijuana, 345 grams of suspected fentanyl, counterfeit Xanax bars, a nine-millimeter handgun, three bottles of promethazine with codeine, and approximately $730.00 in United States currency. Parker, who was the driver of the Chevrolet, was taken into custody.