OOLITIC — What began as a welfare check for a reported domestic disturbance in Oolitic ended in the arrest of a Bloomington woman on multiple felony drug charges Saturday night.
Robyn Destefano, 50, was taken into custody on February 28 after a tense standoff with Lawrence County Sheriff’s deputies at an apartment on Hoosier Avenue.
At approximately 9:51 p.m., deputies were dispatched to the 210 block of Hoosier Avenue after a passerby reported hearing a female screaming and suspected a physical altercation was taking place.
Upon arrival, Officer Braydon Letsinger, Officer K. Long, and Sergeant W. Daugherty made contact with the resident. The woman, who appeared to have just stepped out of the shower, claimed no fight had occurred and that she had simply been yelling in frustration over a broken showerhead.
However, a second woman—later identified as Destefano—had barricaded herself inside the apartment’s bathroom. For several minutes, Destefano refused to exit, identifying herself only as “Rachel” through the door.
The situation became clearer when the female resident contacted Destefano’s male partner to help coax her out. While the male partner initially provided a false name for Robyn, he grew agitated upon arriving at the scene. When Robyn refused to leave with him, the male allegedly told deputies to “look her up” under her real last name, claiming she had an active warrant.
Dispatch confirmed a warrant for Destefano out of Bloomington. She was immediately placed under arrest.
Before being transported to the Lawrence County Jail, Destefano was asked multiple times if she had any illegal items on her person or inside her belongings. She denied having any contraband.
The deception was uncovered roughly 30 minutes after booking. Jail staff conducting a secondary, thorough search of a multi-colored purse Destefano had claimed as her own discovered a hidden pocket containing a plastic bag containing two grams of a white crystal-like substance that field-tested positive for meth and fentanyl, one pink pill identified as generic Adderall, a Schedule II controlled substance, and a glass smoking pipe
Based on the discovery of the drugs inside the correctional facility and the nature of the substances found, Destefano faces a litany of charges, including trafficking with an inmate, possession of meth, possession of a narcotic drug, possession of a Schedule II controlled substance, and possession of drug paraphernalia.
All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. This article is based on the information provided in the probable cause affidavit and does not represent a final determination of guilt or innocence.
