Police officer’s wife arrested in alleged drug sale

Jen Lawson

Thursday, Oct. 28, 2004 | 11:12 a.m.

Metro Police arrested the wife and daughter of a police lieutenant for drug trafficking and placed him on administrative leave while internal affairs officials investigate whether he was involved in an alleged methamphetamine operation.

Hanna Braden, 37, wife of Lt. David Braden, and Kimberly Russo, 30, whom police said is Braden's daughter, were taken into custody Saturday after a police informant bought $90 worth of methamphetamine at their home, police said.

"There was narcotic activity at his house, according to the investigation," Deputy Chief Ault, who oversees Metro's internal affairs section, said. "We need to determine what he knew about this activity or what he should have known."

Ault said police received a tip Saturday that methamphetamine was being sold out of the Braden's home and arranged for an informant to buy the drug that day.

"This wasn't a long, ongoing investigation," he said.

After the informant bought 0.4 grams of meth, worth $90, from Russo at the Braden's home, police obtained a warrant to search their house near Durango Drive and Alexander Road.

Police knocked on the door about 6:30 p.m. and were allowed inside. Hanna Braden was sitting on a sofa in the living room and Russo was in the dining room, the police report says. Both said they lived at the house.

A purse next to Hanna Braden contained 10.4 grams of meth as well as the $90 that the informant had paid Russo for the drugs, according to the police report.

Detectives conducted a taped interview with Braden, and she admitted that the meth belonged to her and that she was selling the drug. Russo also confessed to selling the drugs to the informant.

During the search, officers found scales and baggies, which are commonly used to package drugs before they are sold, "and they are strong indicators of the sales of controlled substances," the police report says.

Hanna Braden and Russo were both arrested on a trafficking charge and booked into the Clark County Detention Center. They were released the next day, officials said.

David Braden was at work while this was occurring, Ault said. Metro officials immediately placed him on leave.

"We need to determine what level of involvement, if any, he did have," Ault said.

Internal affairs investigators are in the process of gathering evidence and speaking to witnesses.

David Braden has been a Metro officer for 21 years and serves as a patrol lieutenant stationed out of the department's southwest area command.

He and Hanna Braden married in May 2000 after meeting online in April 1996, according a Web site entry apparently written by Hanna Braden.

She and Russo are both out of jail after posting $10,000 bond each, according to jail records.