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A Warsaw man was arrested Wednesday on three counts each of dealing a controlled substance and maintaining a common nuisance after two 13-year-old girls were taken to the hospital in an intoxicated-like state.
Michael Charles Kistner, 22, of 402 W. Main St., Warsaw, is being held in the Kosciusko County Jail without bond. He could face additional charges since the alleged drug dealing took place at his residence, located within 1,000 yards of Madison Elementary School.
Warsaw police were called about 8:30 p.m. Tuesday by the father of one of the 13-year-olds. The teen apparently returned home after three days as a runaway and was somewhat incoherent, appearing to be intoxicated or under the influence of something. The teen told police she took some kind of white pills. She was taken to Kosciusko Community Hospital and admitted to the intensive care unit Tuesday. She has since been released from the hospital.
While at the hospital, the teen provided the name of someone who supposedly knew about the pills she took. An officer went to the male's residence and found another 13-year-old girl in the same state as the first girl. She also was taken to the hospital for treatment.
The juvenile male whom police were seeking regarding the pills told an officer Kistner flushed the remainder of the pills after he learned police were called. Another juvenile male reportedly told police Kistner offered to selling him some of the pills, but he declined. The pill bottle, with the label scratched off, was found in a yard neighboring Kistner's residence.
Police learned that the pills were phenobarbital and that each of the teen-age girls took about seven of the pills. The pills are apparently used to control seizures and are, otherwise, a "downer," police said.
Kistner apparently dates an older sister of one of the 13-year-olds and one of the young teens reportedly traded a CD to Kistner for about 50 of the pills.
The matter remains under investigation.
