Three suspects arrested on drug charges after being located in the area of a Medina Road restaurant in July were recently indicted on murder charges in Buffalo after it was found the vehicle they were in belonged to a man they allegedly beat to death.

On July 20, 2016, officers from the Medina County Criminal Patrol Task Force observed a suspicious car in the area of state Route 18 and Interstate 71 in Medina Township, according to a drug task force statement. Medina County Sheriff’s Deputy David King, also assigned to the Medina County Drug Task Force, allegedly found the car had a fictitious license plate.

King temporarily lost sight of the car and its occupants, but found it a short time later, unattended, in the parking lot of a Medina Road business. A Montville Police officer was able to locate three people who had been in the car inside a restaurant in the area.

During their investigation, the officers found Jamell Chapman, 25, had an active felony warrant for his arrest for a parole violation in the state of New York. He was arrested on the outstanding warrant. The two other occupants were detained pending further investigation.

King’s police canine Rocky allegedly alerted to the presence of narcotics inside the car. A search of the car reveled several grams of crack cocaine and a small quantity of marijuana. Along with Jamell Chapman, sister Shanita Chapman, 29, and 17-year-old Dalene McIlwain, Jamell Chapman’s girlfriend, were arrested and charged with various narcotics-related crimes.

A fourth person reportedly fled police and this led to a several-hour manhunt, but the male was not found.

On July 21, sheriff’s detectives learned the car involved in King’s initial investigation was stolen from Buffalo, N.Y. It belonged to Upendra Bawa, 78, a restaurant owner from Buffalo who had been beaten to death around July 17, according to the Buffalo News.

In December 2016 and January 2017, a grand jury in Buffalo indicted Jamell Chapman, Shanita Chapman and Dalene McIlwain on murder and robbery charges for their alleged roles in the elderly man’s death.