La Porte Police, Bomb Squad Investigate Reported Explosive Device at Residence

Eric R. Weiler

La Porte Police and the Porter County Bomb Squad reportedly found an explosive device at a residence in the 700 block of F. St., in La Porte late Wednesday afternoon.

La Porte police detectives were able to secure a search warrant after police received information about a person in possession of explosive material at the home. Officers from the La Porte City Police Department and the La Porte County Emergency Response Team took Eric R. Weiler into custody without incident.

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Dollar General Robbery Suspect In Custody

Robbery suspect 5
In this surveillance footage from the Plymouth Dollar General robbery, the suspect can be seen walking into the store. Witnesses say he wore the same white baseball cap and black sweatshirt during all four robberies.

The man accused of robbing four Northern Indiana stores, including Dollar Generals in Plymouth and North Judson, has been arrested. Continue reading

Federal Judge Sentences Former LaPorte County Chief Deputy Auditor

 A former LaPorte County chief deputy auditor was sentenced this week in U.S. District Court on embezzlement, tax and wire fraud charges.

Mary Ray, 68, of LaPorte, was sentenced to seven years in prison. She was also ordered to forfeit more than $137,000 and pay more than $801,000 in restitution. She was convicted last September of two counts of theft of government monies, two counts of making false statements on a tax return and seven counts of wire fraud. Continue reading

Plymouth Man Sentenced on Federal Child Pornography Charges

 

 
 

A Plymouth man was sentenced last week in U.S. District Court to seven years in federal prison with five years supervised release after previously pleading guilty to distribution of material involving a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Lawrence Tinsman, 67, was also fined $500 in restitution. Federal court records indicate Tinsman possessed a computer which contained numerous images and videos of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. He downloaded the images through a peer-to-peer file sharing program, according to FBI agents, and also made the images available for download by other individuals seeking child pornography.

 

Brooke’s Trial Continues, Defense Calls Character Witnesses

John Brooke

The trial of John Brooke continued Wednesday morning in Starke Circuit Court. The Prosecution called its first witness of the day to the stand: Starke County Detective Ron Lawson. Lawson testified that he had been called to a shooting incident on Summerholme Drive at Bass Lake and received a briefing from officers on the scene. He also said that he had interviewed John Brooke on three separate interviews to correct or understand discrepancies between interviews with Brooke, Michael Drogosz, and Kimberly Hitchens, who were also involved in the incident.

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