La Grange Man Arrested In Drug Bust, Faces Felony Charge

LA GRANGE, IL – A La Grange man is one of four people facing felony charges after a drug bust last week in a local neighborhood, police said.

Paul E. Nutting, 52, who lives in the 800 block of South Catherine Avenue, was charged with felony possession of a controlled substance and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia, police said.

Police did not say which drug was involved in the raid of the Catherine house.

"This investigation is ongoing with lab results still pending," Village Manager Jack Knight said in an email.

The others facing felony possession charges were Adrian R. Bauer, 22, of Chicago; Courtney M. Palutsis, 32, of Chicago; and Nicole V. Schmidt, 39, of Midlothian, police said.

Officers also arrested three people on warrants – a 26-year-old Chicago Heights woman, a 33-year-old Niagara, Wisconsin, woman; and a 45-year-old Chicago man.

Online records indicate that Nutting has lived on Catherine for two decades.

Early in the morning last Monday, the village announced that police activity was taking place at the Catherine house.

The village later told Patch that officers served a search warrant for suspected drug activities at the address.

This was not the police department's first contact with the house.

In January 2022, police said they arrested a 48-year-old woman at the house on a domestic battery charge.

On Oct. 7, a 24-year-old Crown Point, Indiana, woman was arrested about 5 a.m. in the same block of Catherine on a charge of possession of drug paraphernalia.