Meth possession charge follows arrest on parole warrant

JORDAN FOUTS, The Elkhart Truth, Ind.
·2 min read

ELKHART — An Elkhart man was arrested for drug possession following a foot chase with police.

Aaron Bradley Jr., 34, is charged with possession of 28 or more grams of methamphetamine, a Level 3 felony, following his arrest last week. He also faces counts of resisting law enforcement and possession of paraphernalia as misdemeanors.

He was booked in the Elkhart County Correctional Facility on $150,000 bond. During his initial hearing Thursday, Circuit Court Judge Michael Christofeno appointed a public defender to represent him and gave him a preliminary jury trial date of Dec. 16.

A Level 3 felony is punishable by up to 16 years in prison.

According to court documents:

Elkhart police learned that Bradley was wanted on a warrant for an alleged parole violation on an original charge of unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon. Bradley was spotted leaving a Franklin Street apartment and police attempted to stop him shortly before 8 p.m. on April 23.

He allegedly ran from the police cruiser that approached him with its emergency lights activated and fled through a side yard along Franklin Street. He stumbled and fell on the sidewalk and officers attempted to arrest him at gunpoint as he got up, but he ran again towards Lamar Court, according to police.

An officer caught up to Bradley and caused him to fall on his side, then rolled him onto his stomach and sat on his hips. The officer had his gun drawn but pointed away from Bradley as he grabbed him, according to police.

Bradley was placed in handcuffs after other officers arrived. Police allege that they found a broken glass pipe with a white residue while searching Bradley as well as finding a black bag on the sidewalk where he fell.

The black bag contained 51.3 grams of a substance that preliminarily tested positive for meth, according to police. Bradley denied any knowledge of the bag, but police say dashboard camera footage showed him throwing a black object after he fell which bounced off a hedge and landed on the sidewalk.