Joe Hornaday
Greensburg Police Department’s TAC Team detonated a flash-bang grenade in the residence at 624 W. First Street at about 4:15 p.m. Wednesday. The TAC Team had arrived to serve arrest warrants to Stephen Rankin and Renee Rankin.
Stephen Rankin was arrested on preliminary charges of possessing marijuana, maintaining a common nuisance, dealing in a Schedule II substance and possession of psychedelic mushrooms, while Renee Rankin was arrested on charges of maintaining a common nuisance.
The Greensburg Police Department had gathered its TAC Team to make the arrests because of reports of weapons possibly in the hands of both the occupants and the home’s “frequent visitors,” Police Chief Brian Heaton said. The investigation was started as a result of a tip, and a subsequent investigation was commenced. When enough information was obtained, a warrant was issued by the Decatur County Prosecutor’s office and was executed by the GPD.
On top of apprehending the two suspects, the TAC Team also located their 4-year-old son at the residence.
“There was a kid involved,” Chief Heaton said. “That’s the sad part in all of this.”
The police did their best to shield the 4-year-old from the arrest of his guardians, and Greensburg Mayor Gary Herbert, who was at the scene to watch the raid, bought him a chocolate ice cream cone from the nearby Dairy Point restaurant. The 4-year-old will be placed with a relative by the Department of Family and Child Services.
While the Greensburg Police and the DFCS worked the scene, neighbors stood by and watched the events unfold.
None of them were surprised.
Neighbor Rob McClintic explained that during trips to walk his dog he could smell strange fumes emanating from the garage behind the home.
“It made me suspicious,” McClintic said.
Both McClintic and neighbor J.R. Wheeler said that Stephen and Renee Rankin were good neighbors and very quiet, but McClintic added that cars used to park nearby to “visit.” Recently, however, it seemed to him that the frequency of those visits was going down, but that Stephen Rankin was leaving at varying hours during the day and night.
McClintic said that, going by the couple’s garage, he would usually smell something strange. Wheeler added that the windows in the suspicious garage had been blackened out, which for him threw up red flags immediately.
The investigation is ongoing and will continue, Chief Heaton added.
