MITCHELL – Two Mitchell men were arrested on drug charges Tuesday after Mitchell Police officers went to a rooming house at 504 West Oak Street in an attempt to locate a man and woman who were both wanted on warrants.
When officers arrived at 7:07 p.m. officers began knocking on doors in an attempt to locate the man and woman.
Kenneth Banks II, 56, answered the door, and standing behind him was 36-year-old Dustin Slate. The officer requested to enter the room to see if the people wanted on warrants were inside. Banks granted the officer permission to enter.
Slate went to the couch and quickly sat down. The officer checked the other rooms and didn’t find the two people he was looking for. However, he did notice a bed sheet on the floor a few inches from where Slate and Banks were sitting. Under the bed sheet was a syringe with a substance inside it. Slate then got up and began to walk to the door. In his back pocket, the officer saw the plunger end of a syringe.
Slate was told to stop and he attempted to hide the syringe in his pocket with his arm.
Slate was placed in handcuffs.
The officer removed the syringe from Slate’s pocket.
Slate told the officer Banks was diabetic and it was his insulin.
A second officer arrived on the scene and escorted Slate from the room.
Banks then made a voluntary statement, “that meth and stuff is his and not mine”.
Slate denied that the syringe on the floor was his.Â
Both syringes tested positive for meth.
Slate and Banks were both detained on charges of possession of meth, and unlawful possession of a syringe.
If you know something, say something. Send an email to drugactivity@lawrencecounty.in.gov or call Lawrence County Prosecutor’s Office tip line at 812-545-4700. All calls are confidential.
