LAWRENCE CO. – Three Springville residents were arrested on attempted murder and drug dealing charges following an investigation by the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Department.
Police arrested 50-year-old Thomas Beasley, 32-year-old Hope Grissom, and 34-year-old Noah Dike on felony charges of attempted murder, conspiracy to deal meth, aggravated battery, conspiracy to deal marijuana, and criminal recklessness.
Beasley and Dike also face felony charges of pointing a firearm.
On August 25, at 11 p.m. deputies responded to 276 Rawlins Mill Road and found Byron Ira sitting inside his truck. He had suffered a gunshot wound to his head.
According to Ira, as he exited his residence he saw three or four individuals walking toward him. Before he could enter his truck he was shot.
A search warrant was obtained for this residence and property.
A 9mm and a .22 caliber spent shell casing were located in the driveway. Several spent .223 caliber shell casings were located on the west side of the driveway. Four bullet holess were located just above the garage entry door in the siding of the residence and one .223 bullet was located in a kitchen cabinet of the residence.
During this search, police located marijuana and meth in a Fed-Ex package. The package was addressed to 234 Rawlins Mill Road, Apartment B. which is not Ira’s residence. This apartment is rented by Tammy Nicholson and Jathan McCormick.
On August 27th police received an anonymous tip that the individuals involved in the shooting were Noah Dike, Tom Beasley, and Jathan (last name unknown). It stated a package was delivered containing drugs with the intent to sell and that Dike was the supplier. The witness told police they also had guns similar to those used in the shooting.
This witness told police they saw the three arrive at the apartment on Rawlins Mill Road looking for their stolen Fed-Ex package.
The witness heard three resonating boom sounds and then witnessed McCormick, Grissom, Beasley, and an unknown male run to their vehicles.
The witness said Beasley was carrying a rifle.
On August 30th, Nicholson confirmed that McCormick, Dike, Beasley, and Grissom, and an unknown male were at the apartment when the shooting occurred.
Nicholson said the Fed-Ex package containing meth and marijuana was intended to be delivered to Beasley’s house. However, it was sent to her apartment instead. She told police the arrangment was for Beasley and Dike to pick up the delivered package and in return Nicholson would receive “two balls” (approximately seven grams of meth), however the package never arrived.
The group believed Ira had stolen the package of drugs valued at approximately $7000 and confronted him.
Nicholson reported that Dike fired the gun in the air and from there “it was a chain reaction”. This is when Beasley shot Ira.
Nicholson then told police that the men got rid of their weapons.
Lawrence County Police later learned that Indiana State Police were investigating allegations that Dike was dealing meth in Lawrence County.
A confidential informant had purchased meth from Dike on several occasions. During one of those transactions, Dike told the informant “he is working up north and needs to wait until it cools down and he can get back home”. Dike told the informant “that package, someone stole it right, so I went after them. Long story short, there were a bunch of people there, a dude got shot. The people are in jail because the cops came in on the package and they are now looking at 20-30 years in jail for two pounds of dope and a couple of pounds of weed. Right now I gotta stay out of the way. You know what I mean.”
The information was forwarded to the Lawrence County Prosecutor’s Office and warrants were issued.
