McCreary coroner arrested on drug charges

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McCreary County Coroner Brandon New, 26, Stearns, was arrested and charged with numerous drug-related offenses Saturday after being stopped by a deputy of the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department.

December 2, 2008

Brandon New is stepson of Pulaski magistrate Mike Wilson

By CHRIS HARRIS and SUSAN WHEELDON, CJ Staff Writers The Commonwealth Journal Tue Dec 02, 2008, 09:34 AM EST

The McCreary County Coroner, who is the stepson of Pulaski County Magistrate Mike Wilson, was arrested on felony drug charges Saturday night.

Brandon New, 26, Stearns, was arrested and charged with numerous drug-related offenses after being stopped by a deputy of the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department, just days before he was supposed to go to trial in McCreary County on misdemeanor charges from a September incident.

New’s charges included first-degree driving under the influence first, first-degree possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia, and having a prescription controlled substance not in its proper container.

According to the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department, at 10:37 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 29, Deputy Daryl Kegley responded to the Blue John Road area of Pulaski County in regards to a suspicious person complaint.

Kegley arrived to find a 1995 Chevrolet Suburban parked on the side of the road, still running with the vehicle engaged in reverse.

New was found slumped over the steering wheel of the Suburban, which is owned by McCreary County Fiscal Court, and was unresponsive with a syringe between his fingers. He was woken up by Deputy Kegley and determined to be under the influence of drugs.

During the on-scene investigation, a number of substances found in the vehicle and on New. Items recovered from the vehicle included six Xanax tablets, half an OxyContin pill, a soda can lid with white powder residue on it and a bag containing several syringes.

New was lodged in the Pulaski County Detention Center. However, he quickly bonded out of jail about 11 hours later, when the bond, set at 10 percent of $5,000, was posted, according to a spokesperson for the Pulaski County Detention Center.

McCreary County Judge-Executive Blaine Phillips told the McCreary Record yesterday that New and his stepfather, Pulaski County Magistrate Mike Wilson, returned the Suburban to the local courthouse parking lot on Sunday.

Wilson was contacted by the Commonwealth Journal on Monday, but declined to comment.

New also serves with the North McCreary Volunteer Fire Department but has been taken off active duty until further notice.

At this time, no action has been taken regarding New’s status as coroner in McCreary County.

Phillips said there have been no complications with the coroners’ service as Deputy Coroner Daniel Ridner is on-call and every funeral home has a special volunteer.

New’s arraignment in Pulaski County will be at 9 a.m. on Dec. 8 in Pulaski District Court.

Assisting in New’s arrest was Deputy Adam Childress.

New was charged with operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol or first offense, failure to or improper signal and careless driving (all misdemeanors) from the Sept. 2 incident.

••• Janie Slaven contributed to the story •••

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Pulaski carries Girdler to win

In the weeks leading up to Tuesday’s primary election, it was impossible to miss the colorful signs dotting nearly every Pulaski roadway. The names in the race for the 15th State Senatorial District seat popped out: A.C. Donahue. Chris Girdler. Mark Polston.

Once citizens hit the ballots, however, the results mirrored the dimensions of the signs themselves: Chris Girdler stood the tallest.

Girdler, deputy district director for Congressman Harold “Hal” Rogers, ran away with the votes inside Pulaski County’s borders, earning 3,926 votes for 62.05 percent of the total number cast.

That number more than doubled the next highest vote-getter, businessman Mark Polston, who raked in 1,624 votes for 25.67 percent.

However, Polston — who owns Classic Carpet, a home-flooring business located just off the southern 914 bypass — can claim a moral victory ... three of them, in fact. In all three counties in the district other than Pulaski — those being Adair, Casey, and Russell Counties — Polston actually edged out Girdler.

In Adair, Polston beat Girdler 629 to 394. In Casey County, it was 538 to 417, and in Russell, it was 1,862 to 1,038.

Polston said he just “couldn’t pull it out with the numbers” and that “the machine worked for” Girdler in Pulaski County.

“I think that was their strategy — I think they had a Pulaski County strategy all along,” said Polston. “They played the political game well.”

Polston said the difference between his and Girdler’s campaigns was that “mine was a very, very grass roots campaign,” he said. “I did not have a political machine behind me. I understand how this process works, and in this instance, he prevailed.”

As for why Girdler didn’t take three of four counties, the winning candidate — since there are no Democrats in the race, winning the Republican primary was effectively a final victory for Girdler — said he didn’t have an answer for that.

However, “I believe things happen for a reason and I hope the long and strenuous campaign will only heighten my desire to move beyond the bitterness and partisanship of the recent past,” said Girdler.

“Regionalism is a goal of mine, and I look forward to helping all four counties,” he added, noting that he campaigned heavily in each of them.

Sen. Vernie McGaha, the long-time state senator whose seat the candidates were vying for, actually supported Polston after Liberty’s Todd Hoskins dropped out of the race earlier this month.

Donahue, a local attorney, got 556 votes in Pulaski County, 8.79 percent of the vote. He only received 145 votes in Russell County, 74 in Adair County, and 75 in Casey County, where hometown candidate Hoskins almost matched him with 71 votes despite no longer being officially in the race.

Polston said he’s “still digesting” what happened, and though “the process has been a very good experience for me,” he wouldn’t commit to running again in the future. “I wouldn’t shut the door to anything, but I’m not opening any doors either.”

Still, “I think I got a lot of people involved in the process that had not been involved before and would not have been otherwise,” he said. “A lot of people got out and worked really hard, got motivated to talk to friends and neighbors. I think a lot of people became involved through this campaign that are going to be involved for a long time.”

Girdler stressed his “positive message” and said that Rogers is a “mentor and good friend” that he would turn to for advice in dealing with a frequently combative legislative body in Frankfort, one for which Girdler hopes to help change the culture.

Girdler said that he was “confident and optimistic” during the day Tuesday because he’d “worked extremely hard.” Nevertheless, the realization that he’d won gave him “chill bumps,” he said.

“I’m absolutely honored,” said Girdler. “The position of state senator is more than an honor, more than an office. It’s a charge to keep, and I will give it my all.

“I pledge to be the people’s state senator,” he added. “I look forward to working with everyone to move this region forward.”

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