A former Columbus police officer, involved in missing drugs from the department’s evidence room, was arrested Wednesday.

Indiana State Police report that 38-year-old Jeremy R. Coomes was arrested on charges including:

•  Possession of Methamphetamine, level 6 felony
•  Possession of Cocaine, level 6 felony
•  Possession of a Narcotic Drug, level 6 felony
•  Theft, level 5 felony
•  Theft, class A misdemeanor (2 counts)
•  Possession of a Controlled Substance, class A misdemeanor
•   Possession of Marijuana, class B misdemeanor
•   Official Misconduct, level 6 felony

The case began in October when Columbus police discovered during an audit that narcotics were missing from the evidence room. Coomes resigned that month and the case was referred to the Indiana State Police, according to Sgt. Stephen Wheeles, spokesman for the state agency.

Detective Joe Loyd, of the Indiana State Police Versailles Post, was assigned to conduct the the investigation.

According to Wheeles, Coomes became a Columbus police officer in 2005 and held the position of supervisor of the city’s narcotics unit from December 2011 until October.

During the time that he was the narcotics supervisor, Coomes allegedly removed various kinds of drugs from the Columbus Police Department’s evidence room, according to Wheeles. State police alleged that Coomes never returned some of those items of evidence and in some cases, returned items different from the evidence he originally signed out.  Wheeles said that was outside of the scope of Coomes official job responsibilities.

Wheeles said that the case was presented to a special prosecutor and a warrant was issued for Coomes today by Bartholomew Circuit Court. Coomes was arrested this afternoon at a Columbus address, Wheeles said.