A North Judson man was arrested Friday after a battery incident.
Cody Barnett’s mother told a Starke County Sheriff’s deputy and a state trooper that Barnett was intoxicated and battered her. He also reportedly destroyed items in the house and pinned her down on a bed before locking her in the house.
A North Judson man was arrested Thursday after a bullet fired from his gun allegedly went through a young girl’s bedroom window and grazed her in the back.
At 12:30 a.m., Donnie Greer told Starke County police that he was awoken to the sound of a crash in his daughter’s bedroom. He thought at first that it may have been a shelf that fell, but then he heard his daughter crying. When he entered her room, he saw a bullet hole in the window and found that a bullet had grazed his daughter in the back. After canvassing the area, police found that the shot could have originated from a neighbor’s house.
Five people were arrested Wednesday after a search warrant was executed at a Starke County residence.
Officers from the Starke County Sheriff’s Department, Knox City Police Department and the Probation Department went to 11240 E. State Road 8 and announced their presence at the residence. Officers knocked a few times and attempted to kick in the door. At that time, Austin Owens opened the door for the police. An officer read the contents of the search warrant and police conducted a search.
A Knox woman was arrested after allegedly trafficking with an inmate at the Starke County Jail.
Ashley Cooke arrived at the jail and gave the jailer some items for an inmate. The jailer was suspicious of the items so he inspected them. The jailer reportedly found a plastic baggie containing tobacco and two foil packs containing a white powdery substance inside a deodorant container. The powdery substance field-tested positive for methamphetamine.
Officers took her into custody and Ashley Cooke has preliminary charges of Dealing in Methamphetamine and Trafficking with Inmates. She is held on a $30,000 surety bond.
A Pierceton man died yesterday morning in a two vehicle accident in front of the Grovertown Truck Stop in Starke County.
Steve Mort was driving westbound on U.S. 30 and did not see a semi pulling out of the truck stop. The semi was turning eastbound on U.S. 30 when Mort drove into the semi’s trailer that was carrying a large wind turbine propeller. Mort’s vehicle went underneath the trailer trapping he and his passenger, his brother, in the vehicle. Mort and his brother, Tim Mort, were extricated from the vehicle. Steve Mort was transported to the St. Joseph Regional Medical Center in Plymouth where he later died of his injuries. Tim Mort was taken to Memorial Hospital in South Bend and was listed in stable condition.
One person has died after sustaining injuries in a two vehicle accident on U.S. 30 in front of the Grovertown Truck Stop in Starke County this morning.
A semi hauling a wind turbine propeller was leaving the truck stop to go east on U.S. 30, escorted by four vehicles with wide-load signage. The semi and the load were completely across the westbound lane and partially across the eastbound lane. A man traveling westbound in his vehicle failed to see the semi. The man drove under the semi trailer carrying the propeller.
Plymouth police arrested an Indianapolis man who had two active Starke County warrants for Dealing in Methamphetamine and Possession of Chemical Reagents.
The dealing charge reportedly stems from an incident on Sept. 6 when Derrick Crockett was seen in a home on Tippecanoe Road in Starke County along with two other people who were not supposed to be in the residence. The homeowner along with his mother who found the three in the home smelled a strong chemical odor coming from the basement and gained entry to the home. Crockett and two other suspects were told to leave the residence and Starke County police were called to the scene.
Two North Judson men were arrested last week after allegedly stealing a desktop computer and printer from a residence in the West 9000 block of Toto Road. Police were called to the home around 3:35 p.m. where they spoke to the homeowner’s daughter, Sarah Luzadder, who said her mother was on vacation, but when they came to check on the residence that afternoon, they noticed a dark blue Honda hatchback car in the driveway.
She said that she saw two friends of her sister, Brandon Zachary and Jonathan Cortez, walk from behind the house toward the car, and they told her they had been looking for a lost cell phone. Shortly after they left, Luzadder said she noticed the door on the north side of the home was open and discovered the computer and printer missing.
The second killing of a dog by a police officer in Starke County has the community wondering why these incidents take place and what can be done to prevent them.
Jay Dollahan of Knox said his dog, which he described as an almost-two-year-old Old English Bulldogge, was killed by an officer yesterday when he had come to Dollahan’s home on 700 East to serve civil court papers. Dollahan said the officer pulled up to the home and noticed a “Beware of Dog” sign, but continued walking toward the home and identified himself as he approached.
A Starke County man is being charged after a single-vehicle accident on Toto Road in Knox.
At approximately 4:45 p.m. on Sunday, the Starke County Sheriff’s Department received a report of a single-vehicle accident on Toto Road west of U.S. 35. When officers arrived on scene, they found a truck had run off the road and struck a concrete drain, causing serious damage to the vehicle. Fire department personnel were on scene as well, and the driver, Fred Koman, of Knox, had to be extricated from the severely damaged vehicle before being transported to IU Health Starke Hospital and later airlifted to a South Bend hospital after suffering a broken or fractured neck with an injury to his arm.
A train accident in Knox over the weekend brought traffic to a halt, as U.S. 35 and other streets were closed for nearly four hours while the wreckage was cleared. Fortunately, no injuries were reported; the train crashed into an unmanned service truck on the rails at around 9:15 a.m.
The Starke County Sheriff’s Department said a Norfolk Southern service truck was performing maintenance on the tracks Saturday morning when a train rolled through, and a miscommunication caused the train to crash into the truck. Luckily, the repairman was outside the vehicle making track repairs when the accident occurred.
Aaron Armes of Knox appeared in the Starke Circuit Court last week for a plea hearing. An agreement was reached between Armes and the state and has been filed in court. A plea and sentencing hearing for Armes has been set for Oct. 18 at 9:30 a.m.
Armes faces two cases in the court, including one case charging him with Theft as a Class D felony, Possession of Methamphetamine as a Class D felony, and Possession of Paraphernalia as a Class A misdemeanor. His second and latest case stems from his arrest in January when he turned himself in to police. Armes was wanted by police after authorities conducted a search at a camper on 200 South in Knox and found items associated with the manufacture of methamphetamine.
The Starke County Sheriff’s Department told WKVI that a Norfolk Southern service truck was performing maintenance on the tracks when a train rolled through town. The conductor reportedly thought the service truck was out of his way but miscalculated, striking the service truck.
Two people were airlifted to medical facilities for serious injuries after two separate vehicle collisions were reported on State Road 10 within 45 minutes of each other on Monday.
According to the crash report filed at the Starke County Sheriff’s Department, the first collision took place at 4:30 p.m. on State Road 10 near the intersection of Range Road. Connie Boyer, 58 of North Judson, was reportedly traveling east on State Road 10 in a 2005 GMC SUV with two passengers when she slowed to make a left turn onto Range Road. She told police that she did not see the green 2001 Chevrolet car traveling toward her on State Road 10, operated by 46-year-old Michelle Howard of North Judson. Boyer made her turn into the path of Howard, causing a head-on collision.
Two accidents were reported in Starke County within 45 minutes of each other on Monday, requiring two people to be airlifted to medical facilities for treatment. At 4:30 p.m., the Starke County Sheriff’s Department responded to a motor vehicle accident at the intersection of State Road 10 and Range Road involving two vehicles. The driver was flown to Memorial Hospital in South Bend to be treated.
Approximately 45 minutes later, a second motor vehicle accident was reported involving three vehicles on State Road 10 near 300 East. A juvenile passenger was airlifted to Riley’s Children’s Hospital in Indianapolis due to injuries. The identities of those involved have not yet been released, pending the release of the official accident report.
The Starke County Sheriff’s Department is investigating the mysterious death of a Starke County man who was found in a home along Bass Lake Saturday morning.
Just after 9 a.m., police found a dead body in a Bass Lake home. While his identity has not yet been released, his body was reportedly badly decomposed, indicating that the man had been deceased for some time in the home.
Foul play has not been ruled out, and the Sheriff’s Department has launched a death investigation that will begin Monday with a forensic autopsy.
On Monday, it is alleged that Jason Cooke entered the property of Linda Draper and she ordered him off the property. Cooke had reportedly exited a vehicle and walked onto the property and said he needed to speak with Draper’s son. She told Cooke that he was not welcome on the property and to leave. He then said he was going to talk to him anyway and continued on her property and into the house. Draper then called police and he left the property. He was eventually taken into custody and arrested on preliminary charges of Criminal Trespass and Residential Entry.
The state called three witnesses to the stand throughout the course of the trial, including the victim in the case, along with the dispatcher and the detective. The defendant called only himself as a witness.
A Knox man was arrested after a short foot pursuit Friday evening.
Loretta Wheeler called the Starke County Sheriff’s Department to report that her son, Jonnie Wheeler, was out of control. He had just taken his medication and asked to use her car and she told him no. He then threatened to hit her vehicle with an ax. He struck the car twice with the ax before it was taken away from him.
When police arrived at the scene, Wheeler ran out of the house. Officers pursued him through the woods by Shaw’s Fertilizer and it wasn’t long until he was taken into custody.
Jonnie Wheeler has preliminary charges of Criminal Mischief and Resisting Law Enforcement by Fleeing.
Two people were arrested Sunday after a two-vehicle accident at the intersection of State Road 23 and 200 East in Starke County.
Officers from the Starke County Sheriff’s Department found that the driver, 18-year-old Brittani Fisher, had an active arrest warrant through Knox City Court and that she had never obtained a driver’s license.
