Christopher C. Kantmann
GREENFIELD — In a continuing effort to crack down on the issue of teenagers getting involved in guns, drugs and criminal gang activity in the area, officials from the Hancock County Prosecutor’s office have filed felony gun charges against a 19-year-old Bargersville teenager as a result of a traffic stop in late June.
Officials say that the teenager’s arrest is connected to the much larger issues of teen gun violence in and around Greenfield.
Christopher C. Kantmann, 19, 100 block of Schoolhouse Lane, has been charged with two different Level 5 felony counts of dangerous control of a firearm-providing a firearm to a child charges. Kantmann’s case was opened Aug. 31 in Hancock County Superior Court. Kantmann made his initial appearance Friday, Sept. 1 where judge D.J. Davis set a $4,000 cash bond after entering a not guilty plea.
According to a probable cause affidavit, officials from the Greenfield Police Department were led to Kantmann following the stop of a vehicle with four other juveniles on June 26. The vehicle contained two handguns, 15 THC vape cartridges and approximately $230 dollars in U.S. currency, and officials say Kantmann sold one of the teenagers one of the handguns.
All four teens were charged with dealing marijuana and were identified as being involved in ongoing narcotics sales and other criminal activity in the area, the affidavit said.
Two of the juveniles identified as 17- and 16-year-old males were each carrying a handgun at the time of the stop, officials said. One was carrying a .22 caliber Jennings Co. pistol while the other was carrying a Smith and Wesson SW40VE .40 caliber pistol. Both firearms were collected as evidence and a further investigation into the procurement of the weapons was conducted, the affidavit said.
From June 26 to August 29, detectives worked an ongoing investigation into juvenile firearms distribution and narcotics activity within the city of Greenfield and Hancock County, the affidavit said. As part of these cases, an additional number of illegally obtained or possessed firearms were recovered largely from juveniles local to Greenfield, the affidavit said.
During the investigation, officials were able to identify Kantmann as a person who met with one of the juveniles arrested in the vehicle in early June when the juvenile met Kantmann at Riley Park where Kantmann sold the juvenile a handgun along with two magazines, a holster and five rounds of ammunition for $280 dollars. Later that day, officials said one of the juveniles traded the Taurus G2C 9mm handgun to another in return for the Jennings. Co. pistol recovered during the traffic stop on June 26, the affidavit said.
When search warrants were approved for the homes of the four juveniles on July 14, officials found a Walther PPK .22 caliber handgun that was confirmed stolen from Ripley County in one of the juvenile’s bedroom, along with various other firearms accessories, weapons cleaning supplies and marijuana, the affidavit said.
During the investigation and its related interviews, it was discovered that one of the juveniles had traded the Taurus G2C 9mm pistol he received from another juvenile to a Dyalton Christian Dillard, 20, 2100 block of Crossing Lane. Dillard, who the Daily Reporter has already reported on, was arrested earlier this summer, July 21. Officials say he had two illegal guns on him when he was arrested, the affidavit stated.
Kantmann’s criminal history, officials noted, showed he was currently on probation out of Shelby County for an auto theft there. Officials then spoke with his probation officer and informed them of the ongoing investigation and information related to narcotics and firearms involvement in Hancock County. Officials were then informed in early August that Kantmann had tested positive for fentanyl and marijuana on his initial drug screening with officials in Shelby County, the report stated.
Local police and others in Johnson County, where Kantmann lived, used surveillance work to keep an eye on him and did a check of the home he was staying in for probation violation purposes. Once there, officials noted in the report they found three Glock handguns in immediate view laying on the bed inside the room Kantmann was staying in.
Officials noted in the report, “Kantmann was continually uncooperative and dishonest with officers during questioning.”
In addition to the three Glock 9mm handguns with loaded magazines, officials found multiple boxes of ammunition, approximately 46 Muha Meds THC vape cartridges, 185 FRYD THC vape cartridges and 5 Toke THC vape cartridges for an estimated total of 236 vape cartridges totaling approximately 420 grams of THC. Two mason jars containing approximately 559.13 grams and 165.53 grams of hash oil, with an estimated total of 724.66 grams of THC, and multiple bags of green, leafy plant material resembling marijuana contained in heat-sealed bags totaling approximately 1483.35 grams (3.1 pounds) and a large number of M30 blue fentanyl pills weighing approximately 17.17 grams were also found.
The criminal investigation related to the items located in the residence where Kantmann was found is being conducted by the Johnson County Sheriff’s Department, officials said in the affidavit.
As for an update on the teenage shooting incident that took place near Riley Park in early August, prosecutor Brent Eaton said the 17-year-old male identified as the shooter of another teenager remains in custody at a juvenile facility in Pendleton. The court system is trying to determine if the 17-year-old should be charged as an adult or a juvenile.
Eaton noted that the hearing was supposed to take place last week but has now been pushed to late September due to the teenager changing lawyers for the third time.
