When three Greene County Sheriff’s Deputies attempted to arrest a suspect in Marco Wednesday night, he barricaded a room, hid in a crawl space and they called the Indiana State Police. ISP sent numerous troopers and an ERT team that apprehended the suspect after they deployed tear gas and drove an armored vehicle into the barricaded room.

The stand-off, which lasted several hours, ended with the arrest of two individuals: Jesse W. Stephens, 54, and Michelle Sanders, 50. They were both booked in to the Greene County Jail where they are being held without bond pending their appearances in court.

More details about the incident became public record when criminal cases were filed against them on Friday, based on a probable cause affidavit prepared by lead investigator, Det. Shawn Cullison of the Greene County Sheriff’s Department.

Det. Cullison explained that on Wednesday, January 2, at 6:17 p.m., Greene County Sheriff’s Deputies, including Det. Cullison, Sgt. Bobby Pierce and Deputy Heather Wood, arrived at the home of Stephens in the Marco area to serve a warrant for his arrest. The warrant was issued on December 6 on a petition to revoke a suspended sentence for an alleged violation of probation.

Sgt. Pierce was in the area prior to the deputies’ arrival at the home and reported seeing Stephens and Sanders walk into the house through the back door. He continued to watch until the other two deputies arrived and did not see Stephens or Sanders leave the house before an officer knocked on the back door.

Sanders answered the door and allegedly said Stephens had left earlier but might be around somewhere. She went to look for him then came back outside and said she couldn’t find him. While deputies were talking to her, they heard a loud bang – Sanders said it was just the washing machine. Det. Cullison wrote that due to the fact that Deputy Pierce saw both subjects enter the residence earlier, and no one leave the residence, Sanders was detained until they could secure the residence.

Det. Cullison and Sgt. Pierce then announced themselves, gave a command for Stephens to come out then went in, continuing to make commands for him to come out, with no response.

The officers checked all the house except for a back room on one corner of the house and the basement. Cullison said near the back room, they saw a hole in the floor, that was large enough for a person to fit through, going to the basement and when he attempted to open the door to the back room, it had been barricaded from the inside.

At that point, the deputies secured the house and called for assistance from other deputies and the Indiana State Police.

In addition to deputies, the ISP sent several troopers to the scene and at 8:50 p.m., the ISP Emergency Response Team (ERT) arrived and went to work.

Det. Cullison reported the ERT team gave numerous commands for Stephens to exit, with no response, and then they used an armored vehicle to make entry from the outside of the house into the back room that was barricaded.

Once they were in, they found another hole in the floor leading to the basement and they deployed tear gas into the basement.

At approximately 12:13 a.m., the ERT team located Stephens in the basement, in a crawl space, hiding under some venting duct work. He was taken into custody and transported to the Greene County Jail.

Sanders was also transported to jail.

While all this was going on, and while waiting for the arrival of the ERT team, Det. Cullison was preparing to apply for a search warrant for the residence. During the deputies first walk-through of the house, Sgt. Pierce had noticed an item of paraphernalia on the floor in a bedroom. Approval for the search warrant was granted by Judge Dena Martin at 8:50 p.m. and after Stephens was in custody, deputies executed the warrant.

The search, conducted by Det. Cullison, Sgt. Pierce, Deputy Wood and Deputy Davis Aerne yielded numerous items commonly associated with drug activity, including smoking devices, straws, a hollow body of an ink pen – items which contained white crystal residue or burnt residue – evidence that later field-tested positive for the presence of methamphetamine.

When the two were interviewed at the sheriff’s department, they both said they were not in a dating relationship and they slept in their separate bedrooms. Sanders said she had lived at the home since June of 2018.

Stephens allegedly said that when an officer knocked on the door, he thought it was his stepson, but Sanders came back and told him it was the police and they had a warrant for him. Stephens said he told her to tell them he wasn’t there and then he went and hid in the basement. He said he did not want to go back to prison.

In 2001, Stephens was convicted of the 1996 murder of his wife, Michelle Stephens. On March 2, 2001, he was sentenced to 30 years and began serving his time in the Indiana Department of Corrections. According to DOC records, he was released from prison on March 12, 2012 and returned to the authority of the local court in Greene County.

Stephens was on probation but on December 5, the Greene County Probation Department filed a motion to revoke his suspended sentence and the warrant was issued the next day.

This afternoon, Friday, January 4, the Greene County Prosecutor’s Office filed new criminal cases against both Stephens and Sanders in Greene Superior Court.

Stephens is being charged with: Possession of methamphetamine, a Level 6 felony, and possession of paraphernalia, a Class C misdemeanor.

Sanders is being charged with: Assisting a criminal, a Level 6 felony, possession of methamphetamine, a Level 6 felony, and possession of paraphernalia, a Class C misdemeanor.

Both will be scheduled into court for initial hearings before Judge Dena Martin and Stephens will be back in court in the murder case over the petition to revoke.