WING task force, Sidney police team up in drug bust

Sidney residents Jennifer Cartwright and Walter Fischer were arrested last week and charged with possession of methamphetamine, a felony, and possession of drug paraphernalia, a misdemeanor.

This arrest occurred as the result of coordinated work between the Western Intelligence Narcotics Group task force and Sidney police.

“This is a classic example of having team members that don’t recognize zip codes because the bad guys certainly don’t recognize them,” said Sidney police chief B.J. Wilkinson.

On October 23, a WING investigator received information from a cooperating individual that two men were transporting 10 hits of LSD to him in Chadron. That afternoon the two men were arrested for conspiracy to deliver a controlled substance.

After their arrest, the two individuals were interviewed by WING investigators at the Chadron police department. The men allegedly told investigators that they obtained the LSD from Dillon Grabowski in Sidney. One of the men was able to describe Grabowski’s vehicle, the location of his home and identified a photo of the man.

The informant also allegedly told police that Grabowski’s mother, Cartwright, lives in a garage near Grabowski’s home. This man claimed that Cartwright was a methamphetamine user and that he’d seen her use the drug in the past.

As a result of this information, police obtained and executed a search warrant on Oct. 24 for Grabowski’s residence. Grabowski and his grandmother, the homeowner, were present during the search. Cartwright and Fischer were located in a camper beside a metal outbuilding near the house during the search.

Police found a box containing a digital scale and a glass methamphetamine pipe filled with white residue during a search of the outbuilding, according to the arrest affidavit. Police allegedly found evidence inside this building that both a man and a woman were living therein. This evidence reportedly included men and women’s clothing, women’s jewelry and a bed, as well as a handwritten note signed by Fischer. Police tested the suspected drug pipe, which was found positive for methamphetamine, according to the arrest affidavit.

Police questioned Fischer about the scale and pipe, but he allegedly denied any knowledge of either object. When police informed Fischer that they knew he was a methamphetamine user, he reportedly said that none of his drugs were inside the residence. Fischer did allegedly admit that he had written the note and that it was meant for Cartwright.

When questioned about the pipe and scale, Cartwright also allegedly said she did not know anything about either object. Both Fischer and Cartwright were informed that they would both being taken to jail for possession of a controlled substance and possession of paraphernalia because it was apparent that they both lived in the residence, according to the report.

Cartwright later allegedly made the comment that if one of the two took the blame, only one of them would have to go to jail. Fischer reportedly indicated that he would have taken the blame for the illegal paraphernalia and substances, if given the chance. Activity related to this case is still under investigation, Wilkinson said.

Grabowski was arrested earlier this week on a warrant out of Chadron in connection with the alleged drug trafficking charges. One of the individuals to whom Grabowski allegedly sold LSD overdosed on the substance, resulting in his hospitalization.

If area law enforcement including local police and the WING task force did not have such an excellent working relationship, information involving all of these cases might not have been shared as quickly and more people could have ended up in the hospital, Wilkinson said.

“One plus one does equal three when you work together,” he said.