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 State Narcotics Agent Slain
Case Started in Carson City, Ends Tragically in Sacramento
Nevada state narcotics officer Ron Chelius was killed Tuesday
night trying to stem the flow of illegal drugs into Carson City. He was
37. Chelius was felled by a single shot to the chest just after he had
bought a quantity of mescaline in Sacramento. The Sacramento Sheriff's
Department is holding Jeffery I. Cook, 19, and Joseph N. Roberts, 18, both of
Sacramento, on the charge of murder. Vern Calhoun, head of the Nevada
Division of Investigation and Narcotics, said the case Chelius was working on
had been instigated by the Carson City Sheriff's Department. Calhoun said
the Sheriff's Department had developed information which might lead to a
Sacramento group suspected of selling drugs for some time to youngsters in
Carson City. Investigation resulted in infiltration of the group. At
6 p.m. Tuesday, Chelius, working undercover, met with Cook and Roberts to buy
mescaline while four other undercover agents watched, other officers said.
Cook and Roberts tried to run away but were arrested by the other agents who had
observed the drug sale in a field next to a supermarket in Sacramento's north
area, sheriff's spokesman Bill Miller said. Miller said the youths were
sitting in a pickup truck when Chelius approached them. After he bought a
large quantity of the hallucinogenic drug, Chelius identified himself as a
police officer and told the youths they were under arrest, Miller said.
One of the youths drew a two-shot pistol and shot Chelius, who fell to the
ground. The youths jumped from the truck and ran toward the back fences of
nearby homes, but were caught by the other agents, Miller said. Chelius
joined the state agency December 1, 1973, after working for the Carson City
Sheriff's Department. He was a senior agent described by Calhoun as a
working supervisor. Nevada Governor Robert List, upon hearing of Chelius'
death, called Chelius' widow Ilse, to console her. Chelius also is
survived by three children, Toni 13, Shawn 11, and Jason 8.
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