SYRACUSE – Five people were arrested Friday on meth-related charges in two undercover busts in Kosciusko County.
During one of the busts, an officer was injured and required minor medical attention.
The Kosciusko County Drug Task Force and the Syracuse Police Department conducted two separate undercover meth purchases Friday afternoon in the Syracuse area, according to information provided by the Task Force.
The first arrest occurred at approximately 1:30 p.m. at a residence on Hillside Drive, Syracuse. Undercover officers purchased finished methamphetamine from Scott Earl Lutz, 44, Syracuse, while at his residence. Lutz was arrested and preliminarily charged with dealing methamphetamine. His bond was set at $150,000.
The second undercover sting by the Drug Task Force and Syracuse officers occurred in an apartment near the downtown area of Syracuse at approximately 3:10 p.m.
Officers located the following individuals and arrested them on the following charges: James Jared Hampton, 46, Syracuse, dealing and manufacturing methamphetamine, no bond amount set as of press time Friday night; Christy Lynn Stover, 36, Syracuse, dealing methamphetamine, bond set at $200,000; Wendy Ann Beyeler, 42, Goshen, possession of methamphetamine, $50,000 bond; and Kristian Lee Horn, 32, Goshen, visiting a common nuisance, $350 bond.As in the first arrest, undercover officers had purchased finished meth, but while at the location, a Drug Task Force officer was injured by a meth exposure to his skin that required minor medical attention.
Syracuse and Drug Task Force officers stated the arrest of Hampton, Stover, Beyeler and Horn had been the result of a week-long investigation. Lutz’s arrest was a culmination of more than a month of intense work by both agencies.
