HANCOCK COUNTY — A Michigan City man made his first appearance in Hancock Circuit Court after being arrested on several felony drug charges stemming from an incident earlier this week.
Joshua M. Holmquest, 38, Michigan City, has been charged with multiple drug crimes, including a Level 2 felony count of dealing cocaine; a Level 4 felony charge of possession of cocaine; a Level 6 felony charge of maintaining a common nuisance; and a Class C misdemeanor for possession of paraphernalia.
Judge Scott Sirk entered a not guilty plea for the man Tuesday afternoon during Holmquest’s initial appearance. Sirk reminded Holmquest he’s facing up to 30 years in prison for the most serious charge. A cash bond of $10,000 was set.
A call to check on a suspicious vehicle and person led police to the suspect.
A caller reported on Sunday that a car was in the parking lot of the Hampton Inn & Suites, 2271 William Way, with its reverse lights on. The caller said someone appeared to be in the vehicle, and that the car had been sitting that way for almost 30 minutes.
Police found a man asleep in the front seat. He was a holding a lighter and a clear glass pipe with a dark burned residue in the bowl, a report said. The man told police he was in Greenfield with his wife and child for a sporting tournament, but he couldn’t name the sport his child was playing and had no idea where the child and his wife were, the report said.
Police saw a sandwich bag containing a brown and white, rock-like substance in the door of vehicle. A further search turned up a duffel bag containing plastic bags of what appeared to be cocaine, a digital scale and other items, the report said.
The man admitted he had smoked crack cocaine in the vehicle.
A field test on the rock-like substance indicated it was cocaine, the report said.
The judge appointed Holmquest a lawyer and set a trial date for Oct. 22. He has a pretrial conference Aug. 15.
