By JESSE DAVIS
Two people were taken into police custody Monday when Goshen police and firefighters responded to a call of smoke in an apartment building at 409 E. Madison St.
During the 4 p.m. incident, traffic was redirected on Madison Street in Goshen
Goshen firefighters responded but they were unable to determine the source of the smoke before it disappeared.
Westbound traffic in front of the home was redirected down Eighth Street and eastbound traffic was directed through by police while dozens of residents of nearby homes congregated outside to watch as firefighters and two police officers milled about outside the home.
One man was brought out of the home in handcuffs before being placed into a nearby police cruiser. While handling a set of personal effects soon after, a police officer could be seen holding a sandwich bag with a hypodermic needle inside.
After a call from the fire department, the property owner came to the home with a set of keys. Shortly thereafter, police also escorted a young woman out of the house in handcuffs.
The owner declined to give his name, but said when he was called to come down, he was told there was some kind of odor in the house.
For apartment residents Brad Pickett and Nena Cottey, it was an unsettling incident.
“Police came knocking on the door, but I wasn’t sure who it was. When I realized it was the police, I opened the door,” Pickett said. “They said ‘You need to come outside,’ and they’ve had us sitting out here for our safety.”
He said they never saw any flames.
It was a particularly frightening experience for Cottey, who nearly died in a house fire on Fifth Street about 15 years ago.
“This is just scary,” Cottey said.
Pickett and Cottey, who have lived in their apartment at the house for five months, said they believed the two people in handcuffs did not live there, but said they visited their neighbors in the home “all the time.” They said they couldn’t remember any illicit activity at the house except for one of their neighbors’ apartments being broken into.
Police on the scene said details on the incident would be issued today.
