SF Police Arrest 3 People In Drug Bust

by Jill Johnson
February 07, 2013 5:13 PM


Three people are behind bars after Sioux Falls Police found components of a meth lab in their home. Police served the search warrant Wednesday afternoon.

The home is just across the street from Augustana College, near 30th and Grange Avenue. On the door, a warning sign, and above that, a three day notice to vacate the premise for 'criminal activity' on the property.

Officer Sam Clemens said, "A lot of that was short term traffic, people coming and going. A lot of the reports that came in was about drug use that was happening around that place and some reports that came in, or tips that came in, drugs that were being manufactured there."

Police say after receiving several tips over the last few months, they were able to get a warrant to search the home.

"Anytime our detectives get a Crimestoppers tip, or a tip from the general public, they always follow up on it," said Clemens.

Inside the home police found marijuana, methamphetamine, paraphernalia, and components used to make a meth  lab. The three people who lived there, 37-year-old Heather Schmidt, 24-year-old Nicholas Sherard and 18-year-old Jonathan Wallace, were arrested.

Clemens said, "Nobody wants to have a meth house or drug house near where they live. You don't especially want to see it any kind of school, whether it's a elementary school or a college."

This isn't the first time police have been called to Schmidt's home. The first involved her 16-year-old son, the other was on the report of a fire. In November of last year, Sioux Falls Fire Rescue put out a car that was on fire in the unattached garage and now this.

"We've found drug houses, apartments and they've come in through different tips as well. It's proven, it works elsewhere in the country and that's one of the messages that we always try to push, that people call us if they have suspicious activity happening in their neighborhood," said Clemens.

Police say it just goes to show that drug use can happen anywhere, but with the help from the public, they can work to put to it to an end. In this case, those tips paid off.

All three were arrested for possession of marijuana and paraphernalia, possessing a controlled substance and inhabiting or maintaining a residence where drugs are used or kept.

Schmidt is also being charged with aggravated assault. Police say her 15-year-old daughter told a school resource officer that on Tuesday night her mother had pushed her to the ground and strangled her to the point where she blacked out.