Grand Jury indicts several in Cole County

The Cole County grand jury recently handed down several indictments allowing cases to go onto the circuit court for possible trials.

Among the indictments was one for David Foley, 50, of 312 Norris Drive.

He is charged with possession of a controlled substance.

In December 2012, Jefferson City police were called to his residence for a report that he had stabbed his brother in the abdomen after an argument over mail being thrown on the floor.

Authorities said Foley is a self-admitted user of methamphetamine.

---

The grand jury indicted Jeffrey Bryan, 44, of 205 S. Lincoln St., who is charged first-degree property damage and third-degree assault.

According to Jefferson City police, the incident occurred at an apartment building in the 2500 block of Southridge Drive in January.

As Bryan was scratching a 1-year-old child in the face, he got into an altercation with a man and assaulted him by driving his motor vehicle into the door frame of the apartment while the male victim stood in the doorway.

Bryan's vehicle hit the male victim in the leg.

---

The grand jury indicted Jordan Sayles, 23, 5208 Collier Court, who is charged with first-degree burglary.

The burglary occurred in January at 5212 Collier Court.

A Cole County Sheriff's Department probable cause statement shows a resident said several people had entered her apartment uninvited and assaulted her nephew and others.

Several witnesses told deputies Sayles initiated the incident.

In an interview with investigators, Sayles denied entering the apartment, saying he tried to keep people from going in and that he was trying to keep the peace.

---

The grand jury indicted Ben Scott Jr., 40, St. Louis, who was charged with possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance in November 2012.

Authorities said in addition to selling heroin in Jefferson City, Scott was identified as a wanted federal fugitive for heroin trafficking in the St. Louis area.

---

The grand jury indicted a Jefferson City man who was already charged with kidnapping a 13-year-old girl in Gasconade County in December and later was charged with first-degree statutory rape in Cole County for the same incident.

Leon Copeland, 30, of 1606 E. Miller St., began exchanging text messages with the teenager two days before Christmas.

He said he thought she was 16. The 13-year-old told Copeland she was 19, and their conversations became sexual in nature.

---

The grand jury indicted a Jefferson City man charged with two counts of heroin possession.

Both counts charge that Robert L. Jones, 38, 705A Broadway St., "knowingly distributed and delivered and sold heroin" between Jan. 1 and Feb. 25.

Jones was arrested after the Jefferson City police SWAT and Community Action teams served a search warrant at his apartment, as part of an ongoing narcotics distribution investigation.