IUPD busts worker for drug sales in C-store

IU’s C-stores, found in dorms across the Bloomington campus, are handy stops for students to buy drinks, food and toiletries.\nBut one C-store was also the site of a cocaine and marijuana purchase Thursday night, when an undercover IU Police Department investigation came to an end.\nAmanual K. Girma, a 25-year-old employee of the Wright Quad C-store, was arrested late Thursday on preliminary charges of dealing marijuana and cocaine from the campus store.\nThis was not the first time Girma, of 2126 E. Seventh St., had been connected with illegal activity.\nAt the time of the arrest Thursday, police became aware of a warrant for Girma’s arrest on charges of sexual deviancy, IUPD Detective Dave Hannum said. The warrant was issued in connection with a 2006 report from a female IU student who said a man performed a sexual act on her while she was sleeping, Hannum said.\nThe Bloomington Police Department filed a related probable-cause affidavit stating that a 20-year-old woman reported that she had been asleep at home when an unknown man woke her up by performing oral sex on her at an off-campus residence.\nBut Hannum said, drugs were the reason IUPD was investigating Girma.\nHannum said police were alerted of suspicious behavior from Girma while he was working in the C-store, as they investigated if he was selling something other than the items on the shelves.\n“Over the course of several weeks, I was able to introduce a female person to gain this person’s confidence by buying soft drinks and stuff,” Hannum said. The undercover officer noticed that Girma would often take breaks and leave the store with visitors, further suggesting mischievous behavior, Hannum said.\nHannum said Girma eventually sold marijuana to the undercover agent and told her he could get any kind of drug she wanted.\nOn Thursday, Girma sold cocaine and marijuana to the undercover person agent before police arrested him, Hannum said.\nAll sales happened outside the building, Hannum said, but money for illegal substances was often transferred inside the C-store. Girma would either bring the drugs to work with him or retrieve them during a break, Hannum said.\n“He would take his break, sometimes smoke with these guys, sometimes pick up and buy,” Hannum said.\nIt became clear to Hannum that Girnam was heavily connected.\n“Not only did he have several people he was selling to, but several people to get it from,” Hannum said.\nHannum said he is still investigating the case for possible future arrests.\nGirma is charged with a Class B felony for dealing cocaine, three Class A misdemeanors for dealing marijuana and a Class B felony for sexual deviancy.