Staff Report

Kevin Michael Smith

PIERCETON — A man was recently arrested after an officer found him in possession of drugs at a local cemetery.

Kevin Michael Smith, 31, Fort Wayne, is charged with possession of a narcotic drug with enhancing circumstances, a level 5 felony; and possession of paraphernalia, a class C misdemeanor.

Shortly after 8:30 p.m. July 8, a Pierceton Police officer was on patrol when he saw a parked vehicle in the town’s cemetery. The officer noticed a man rummaging in the vehicle’s trunk area.

According to court documents, when asked what he was doing in the cemetery, the man, later identified as Smith, said he was looking for a phone cord. While standing next to Smith’s vehicle, the officer noticed the smell of marijuana. When asked if there was marijuana in the vehicle, Smith became nervous and said there was marijuana in his vehicle’s backseat.

While searching Smith’s person, the officer found a part to an AR-15 rifle in his pants pocket and nine white pills in his front shirt pocket. The pills were later identified as narcotic drugs.

Smith said a friend had left a rifle in his car. The officer found additional parts to the rifle in Smith’s vehicle and also found a glass pipe with marijuana residue.

Smith said he took the white pills from a relative and that he had sold some of the pills a few days earlier.

Smith was previously convicted of failure to register as a sex or violent offender in Steuben County in 2017.

For this case, Smith was booked in the Kosciusko County Jail on July 8, with a $10,250 surety and cash bond.