Before a man was in custody after an incident in Lawrence Hollow last Friday night, as a trooper approached a vehicle, the driver twice dropped a hand down to his waist prompting the trooper to yell for him to keep his hands in sight.  

Tayler Blayne Grubb, 20, Bloomington, was arrested by Indiana State Police Trooper Richard Klun last Friday night, June 12.

Trooper Klun, the investigating officer, and Deputy Jordan Allor and other deputies from the Greene County Sheriff’s Department were dispatched to the area of Lawrence Hollow in eastern Greene County around 9 p.m. on the report of a man driving around in a black pickup truck, waving a gun around.

The officers arrived and started to patrol the roads in Lawrence Hollow looking for a four-door black Dodge pickup. They saw a black extended cab Dodge in a driveway, running with a driver inside. When the officers determined that was the truck they were looking for, Trooper Klun and others headed back to the place where it was parked.

Trooper Klun said on the way, he saw the truck heading towards the officers, which was also the direction the truck needed to go to exit the Lawrence Hollow area. Trooper Klun hit the emergency lights and pulled in front of the truck to make the stop.

In a probable cause affidavit prepared by Trooper Klun, he explained what happened next.

“As I began to approach the driver’s window, I advised the driver to keep his hands up where I could see them,” wrote Klun. “As I was walking in front of the truck, the driver’s right hand dropped down by his waist in which I had to tell him again to keep his hands up.

“When I reached the driver’s side window, I asked the driver what his name was and he stated, ‘Grubb.’ I then advised Grubb to exit the vehicle.

“Instead of reaching for the door, Grubb stared at me and then again reached down and grabbed his waistline with his right hand. I ordered Grubb to place his hands on top of the steering wheel in which he did as instructed. I then opened the driver’s door and had him step out with his hands up.”

Trooper Klun then had Grubb place his hands behind his back and he was handcuffed. During a pat down, Grubb indicated he had a heroin needle in a black shoulder bag on his person. Grubb also said he has a needle exchange card in his wallet.

Grubb was also found to be carrying a metal spoon with residue and a plastic bag with a crystal substance which tested positive as meth, in a pocket on his person. Trooper Klun noted Grubb’s eyes, breathing, movements and other behaviors were consistent with a person under the influence of a stimulant.

Grubb didn’t have a driver’s license – it was found to be suspended.

And the truck had been reported as stolen out of Monroe County.

Trooper Klun reported deputies searching the truck found 97 syringes, cotton pieces, saline and a digital scale with powder on it.

During a subsequent interview, Grubb allegedly told Trooper Klun he has to use drugs every day, mainly heroin but he was going to use meth that day, and that the digital scales might test positive for heroin, meth, or both. He said he gets his needles through the Monroe County needle exchange. He also said he did not have a handgun and he doesn’t carry handguns.

Grubb was transported to a hospital for a blood draw – results pending.

Court records show Grubb has other criminal cases pending against him in Monroe County. In one case, a petition to revoke a suspended sentence has been filed on a conviction of felony resisting law enforcement with a vehicle and misdemeanor leaving the scene of an accident. In another case, he’s accused of felony escape that involved an intentional violation of a home detention order. In yet another, he’s accused of felony resisting law enforcement and misdemeanor operating a vehicle while intoxicated endangering a person, operating a vehicle with a controlled substance in the body and reckless driving in and out of a line of traffic.

He was currently out of jail after being released on his own recognizance in Monroe County.

Following this incident in Greene County, Grubb was booked into the Greene County Jail around 11:48 p.m. last Friday. He was being held without bond pending court appearance – date not yet known.

When he appears in Greene Superior Court, he’ll be formally charged with:

• Operating a vehicle with a controlled substance in person’s body, a Class C misdemeanor,

• Auto theft – theft of entire automobile, a Level 6 felony,

• Possession of methamphetamine, a Level 6 felony, and

• Unlawful possession of a syringe, a Level 6 felony.