VALPARAISO | Formal charges
were filed against a Lake County Sheriff's Department deputy arrested Wednesday
on numerous drug charges.
Gary Pilipovich, 29, of 3370
Reserve Drive, Apt. 115, in Portage, was charged Thursday with felony counts of
possessing cocaine, possessing a syringe and possessing a controlled substance,
and misdemeanor counts of possessing marijuana and paraphernalia.
He bonded out of the Porter
County Jail less than an hour and a half after being booked Wednesday morning.
The charges stem from a
search of Pilipovich's Willowcreek Estates apartment Tuesday triggered when an
officer claimed he saw bag of marijuana in plain view earlier in the day while
assisting with an eviction.
Police said they found
cocaine in the closet of the master bedroom and marijuana in several locations
around the apartment, including in a Lake County sheriff's bag. Police said
they also found a multi-colored smoking pipe in the apartment and a collection
of painkillers, amphetamines and anti-anxiety pills in Pilipovich's red 2000
Pontiac Trans Am car.
The county drug task force
was granted a separate search warrant Friday after the apartment manager said
she saw and took photographs of vials, a burner, chemistry equipment, cooking
implements, hypodermic needles and a nitrous oxide tank in Pilipovich's
apartment, according to the warrant. The manager, who said she was responding
to Pilipovich's complaints about mold, told police she also saw numerous books
relating to the use and manufacturing of steroids.
A member of the drug task
force said the photographs also revealed a jar of L-lysine, an amino acid often
used in conjunction with anabolic steroid use.
No charges have been filed in
connection with last week's warrant, though Porter County Prosecutor Brian
Gensel said the investigation is ongoing.
Pilipovich, an eight-year
veteran of the Lake County Sheriff's Department, has been suspended from his
job, and his weapon and department identification were taken Wednesday,
according to Lake County Sheriff John Buncich.
Buncich said Pilipovich had
been on sick leave from the department for about four months while undergoing
treatment for cancer.
Pilipovich was released on
either a $8,500 surety or $1,000 cash bond and faces between six months to
three years behind bars on each of the felony counts.
Portage police Sgt. Keith
Hughes said police seized several weapons from the officer's residence Tuesday.
Lake County officials retrieved some of the weapons from Portage police
Wednesday.