A warrant for the arrest of the owner of the Huckleberry Hideout Restaurant and Winery in Linton was issued early Monday. She’s accused of selling alcoholic beverages without a permit and manufacturing alcoholic beverages without a permit plus three other felony and misdemeanor counts.

Cheryl Riddle, 53, is the owner of the Huckleberry Hill Winery in rural Bloomfield and the Huckleberry Hill Winery, also known as the Huckleberry Hideout Restaurant and Winery, in Linton.

Indiana State Excise Police allege that Riddle did not obtain or even apply for the permits required by state law to sell alcohol and that she was unlawfully acting as a winery and was manufacturing wine inside the Linton location.

Riddle and her Linton business location have been under an ongoing investigation by ISEP (Indiana State Excise Police) since mid-May.

The findings in the investigation from May until the end of July were detailed by ISEP Officer Amber Van Ness in a request for a search warrant filed in Greene Circuit Court on Tuesday, July 31. Judge Eric Allen approved the request and the search warrant was issued the same day.

On Thursday, August 2, the search warrant was executed at Riddle’s Linton business/residence located at 190 North Main Street by ISEP Officer Van Ness along with ISEP Captain Turner, Cpl. Butler, and Officers Clifford and Irwin.

The officers reported finding a long list of items that were seized as evidence, or photographed, or in some cases photographed then destroyed on the scene.

ISEP Officer Van Ness detailed the entire investigation including the execution of the search warrant and various interviews with Riddle in a lengthy affidavit to establish probable cause for several criminal charges, which was all turned over to the Greene County Prosecutor’s Office.

Last Friday, August 17, Chief Deputy Prosecutor Keven McIntosh filed a criminal case against Riddle. She’s facing five counts including:

• Maintaining a common nuisance involving alcohol, a Level 6 felony,
• Possession of untaxed beverages, a Class C misdemeanor,
• Sale of alcoholic beverages without a permit, a Class B misdemeanor,
• Unauthorized furnishing of an alcoholic beverage, a Class B misdemeanor, and
• Making alcoholic beverages without a permit, a Class C misdemeanor.

Early Monday morning, August 20, Greene Superior Judge Dena Martin ordered a warrant be issued for Riddle’s arrest.

In the documents prepared by Officer Van Ness, she said the scrutiny from Excise stemmed from multiple complaints received by ISEP alleging a variety of violations including manufacturing wine and selling wine without a permit as well as serving alcohol without asking for identification to establish age.

The complaint was initially assigned to ISEP Sgt. Swallow who was unable to find any record of the Linton location. He made a permit visit to the Bloomfield location where an employee allegedly told him the winery had moved to Linton.

When he talked to Riddle on the phone, she allegedly said the winery was still in Bloomfield and the Linton business was a satellite location. When he advised her there was no record of permits issued to this satellite location, she allegedly said she had submitted an application and it had been approved.

When Sgt. Swallow then met with Riddle back in late May, she said she had copies of permit application paperwork but ISEP said she never did not provide any copies as proof.

On May 23, Sgt. Swallow told Riddle all operations pertaining to alcoholic beverages at the Linton location would have to stop immediately. Riddle said she would move everything back to the Bloomfield location.

Sgt. Swallow followed up on June 7. An employee in Bloomfield told him all of the items from Linton had been moved back. Sgt. Swallow then drove by the Linton location and saw it had a “Closed” sign and it appeared to no longer be operating. He closed out the complaint.

But on June 27, ISEP received another complaint that alcohol was still being served in Linton and that they kept the alcohol hidden in the basement.

Excise officers then visited the Linton location several times to observe. They made inquiries about the wine, they were served wine, they purchased wine and watched other customers consume and purchase wine.

On one visit, Riddle sat down and talked to two Excise officers at their table. She allegedly served them wine samples and talked about her business, saying most of the wine was made in Bloomfield but some was made in Linton. She also took the two on a tour of the building, including the basement where they reported seeing wine bottles in storage.

During the execution of the search warrant, Cpl. Butler interviewed and talked at length with Riddle, which was detailed then summarized in the affidavit. Van Ness wrote:

“It should be noted that Owner Riddle initially stated that she was selling wine and offering wine tastings at this location. She acknowledged that she had opened bottles of wine in refrigerators and in a nearby cooler (wheeled and filled with ice) and that these were used for the wine tastings offered at this location.

“Owner Riddle later pivoted and denied ever selling wine, producing wine or even offering wine tastings at this location. She played ignorant and confused throughout the interview and tried to give Cpl. Butler the impression that she thought she had a permit for this location and was authorized to sell wine.

“When it was clear to her that we knew that she was aware that she didn’t have a permit, she then started describing the wine as being part of her collection. Cpl. Butler pointed out that the business had signs posted throughout advertising bottles of wine for sale and wine tastings and also that the menus spread throughout the business showed prices for glasses of wine, sample, slushies containing wine and for bottles of wine. Owner Riddle reiterated that the wine in the business is her personal collection.”

Items photographed included the wine rack in the basement with bottles of Huckleberry Hill wine, a display showing how many of what wines were available, the wheeled cooler with ice and 10 open bottles of wine, the menu showing wine and wine drinks for sale and the Winery signs posted outside the entrance.

Items seized, or photographed and destroyed on the scene, included 414 empty wine bottles, heat sealer to seal wine bottles, corks, 79 sealed full bottles of Huckleberry Hill wine, bottles of non-Huckleberry Hill wines, 36 corked bottles labeled Huckleberry, strainers, siphon equipment, bottle sealers, packages of yeast, five large jugs containing a liquid/fruit combination identified as part of a fermentation process, cash register records of sales, and other business records including a “to-do” list for getting a permit to sell wine at the Linton location.