LEESVILLE – Two people were arrested after an Indiana State Police investigation into the theft of utilities.
On September 28, 2022, ISP was contacted by an employee at the East Lawrence Water Company, about a residence, located at 4170 Leesville Road.
The employee indicated that water was stolen on multiple occasions.
The employee indicated they have tried to make contact with the occupants at the residence on multiple occasions and have been unable to do so.
The employee told the trooper they had unhooked the water on numerous occasions only to find out that the water main had again been bypassed.
Again on October 11th, an employee found the water main had been bypassed.
A search warrant was applied for and was granted for the residence to try and obtain the name of the occupants that were stealing water.
Lawrence County Sheriff’s Department deputies and ISP detectives executed that warrant. No one would answer the door so they made entry to the residence. They found 29-year-old Celine Grider and 27-year-old Zachery Fields in a backroom. Fields was detained because he was wanted on a warrant for petition to revoke probation.
Grider told investigators that they had been taking water without paying for it for several months but had stopped. When asked how many times they had stolen water she stated 4 times. When asked about the most recent theft she denied the accusation.
She was then shown the video taken by the water company employee indicating there was a water line that was bypassing the meter. Grider then told the police they did not have the money to pay for the water.
Fields requested an attorney and refused to speak to investigators.
During a search of the home, police found a glass smoking pipe near the bed. They also located a metal 90-degree pipe fitting, a plastic container with a gram of crystal meth, and a Schedule II controlled substance. A water line shut-off valve on a dresser and a mirror with meth residue along with several other glass smoking devices that also contained meth residue.
Grider admitted to using meth, but said she had last used the drug within the “last couple of days”. She said her habit was “not terribly bad and that she used a gram every couple of days”.
Grider and Fields were both arrested on charges of theft of utilities, possession of meth, maintaining a common nuisance, and possession of drug paraphernalia.
