Routine traffic stops are usually just that – routine. The driver gives his or her driver’s license to the officer, the officer checks the computer, and the driver is given a ticket specifying the offense that the officer observed. Occasionally, however, what should be a routine stop quickly morphs into an incident with far broader criminal charges. This phenomenon occurred during a traffic stop in Henry County, just east of Indianapolis, in early September.
On Sept. 6, 2017, a member of the Pro-Active Criminal Enforcement team pulled over an eastbound vehicle on Interstate 70 east of Indianapolis. The officer intended to charge the driver with following too closely and having paint on his license plate. According to the police, the driver sped away from the scene when the officer asked him to step out of the vehicle. Police say that a high-speed chase then ensued along Interstate 170 and State Road 3. On several occasions during the chase, the driver allegedly attempted to purposely cause a crash with the pursuing officer. The driver was finally arrested when he attempted to hide in a Walmart supercenter. Also arrested was the driver’s brother. A search of the vehicle allegedly turned up heroin, pills, and pain strips. The brothers were charged with multiple felonies and misdemeanors.
Soon after the arrest, the Henry County Sheriff’s Department was contacted by the New York City Police Department’s Brooklyn Homicide Unit. According to the Brooklyn police, the two brothers were under suspicion of having murdered their roommate a few days before their arrest in Indiana. The roommate’s body had been found floating near Brooklyn’s docks. The dead roommate’s father is thought to be a member of the Gambino crime family in New York City.
The two brothers arrested in Indiana were indicted New York in early September, one for 2nd degree murder and tampering with evidence and the other for tampering with evidence and hindering the prosecution. The two men will in all likelihood be extradited to New York to face trial on the charges for which they have been indicted and for their alleged role in the death of their roommate.
Source: RTV6, “Suspects in Gambino crime family murder caught in Henry County,” Jordan Fischer, Nov. 30, 2017