By Jack Molitor
The Herald Bulletin
ANDERSON, Ind. — A man was shot once by police in the 2700 block of Fountain Street early Saturday morning after he drove through a garage door and tried to hit an officer with his vehicle.
Dustin Roy Anderson, 32, of Anderson, was transported to St. Vincent Regional Health Center after the incident and later airlifted to St. Vincent Indianapolis to be treated for his injury. He was reportedly in stable condition, according to a press release from Anderson Police spokesman Joel Sandefur.
Anderson and Krista Stansberry, 29, of Elwood, are suspects in an investigation by the Madison County Drug Task Force.
Around 1:30 a.m., uniformed officers were searching a garage at the Fountain Street location for a suspect involved in a separate incident of burglary and domestic battery a few hours earlier in the 2800 block of Walton Street.
According to the release, the officers smelled what they believed to be homemade methamphetamine coming from the garage while they were investigating the neighborhood.
When the officers tried to talk to someone inside, Anderson allegedly drove a 1997 Chevrolet Cavalier through the garage door and toward the officers surrounding the building. One officer was knocked to the ground but wasn’t injured.
Another officer in the line of the car fired one round at the vehicle and hit Anderson in the left side. The car then came to an abrupt stop. Sandefur said he doesn’t believe Anderson was directing the car at any officer in particular, but was trying to escape.
“We went there looking for something completely different, and ended up with an entirely new mess,” Sandefur said.
Officers discovered a meth lab inside the garage after the incident and arrested Stansberry, who was in the car with Anderson when he tried to drive away. She faces felony charges for manufacturing meth. Anderson is also charged with manufacturing meth as well as a felony criminal recklessness charge.
Both Anderson and Stansberry have previous criminal convictions. Anderson has pleaded guilty to theft twice and dealing sawed-off shotguns. Stansberry was charged with unlawful possession of a syringe in 2011 and unlawful drug possession in July, but has failed to appear in court several times in recent months. There was a warrant for her arrest before Saturday’s incident, according to public record documents.
Sandefur said Stansberry initially gave a false name to arresting officers, but Drug Task Force members were able to identify her from past dealings.
Sandefur said the case is still under investigation and more charges could be filed.
Copyright 2013 The Herald Bulletin