IndyStar.com: Crime & Courts
Indiana's leading news source for all the top stories, local news, sports and weather.
Police: Man had drugs in controversial arrest
Muncie — A man whose relatives claimed he was beaten after being subdued with a stun gun during an arrest was carrying cocaine when he fled a city police officer trying to arrest him outside a near-downtown convenience store last month,...
Shoplifting suspect draws gun at Walmart
A suspected shoplifter escaped store detectives at a Lawrence Walmart when he pointed a gun at them as they tried to take him into custody. The man, who was described as clean-cut and about 18 years old, was seen on the retailer’s security...
Drive-by gunman wounds Lawrence man
A 23-year-old man was shot in a drive-by shooting outside his home in Lawrence on Sunday night. Troy Richardson told police that an older model, black two-door Cadillac pulled alongside when he was walking home about 11:30 p.m. on the 6600 block of...
Questions haunt Hamilton Avenue victims' survivors
Desmond Turner’s life sentence doesn’t end lingering horror of Hamilton Avenue slayings Desmond Turner is headed to prison for the rest of his life, a promise that brought some relief Friday to family members of the four adults and three...
Up to 5,000 to split $16M in concrete case settlement
More than 5,000 buyers of concrete from seven Indiana companies charged in a price-fixing scheme are receiving letters this week that let them sign up for compensation from a settlement pot of $16 million. If the buyers agree with the amounts, they...
Charlestown QB faces assault charges
JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind. — The quarterback of a southern Indiana high school football team faces felony assault charges in the stabbing of a man during what police say was a fight over the player’s ex-girlfriend. The defense attorney for...
Desmond Turner found guilty on all 23 counts
Sentencing phase is to begin today for 1st defendant in the 7 slayings A judge rendered guilty verdicts on all counts Thursday against a man accused of slaughtering seven people in a barrage of assault-rifle fire three years ago on Hamilton Avenue....
Purdue student held in music hall arson
The student Purdue University officials heralded for discovering a fire in Elliott Hall of Music on Monday night has now been arrested on suspicion of arson and perjury. According to a Purdue news release issued this afternoon, campus police arrested...
Man arrested in Northside shooting death
Police have arrested a man in connection with a robbery and shooting that killed one man and injured another today on the Northside. Fidel Vega, 20, was preliminarily charged with murder, robbery, battery and carrying a handgun without a license,...
Report: Indiana has high child abuse, neglect rates
A new report shows Indiana had the eighth-highest rate of child deaths from abuse and neglect in 2007. The report from the nonprofit group Every Child Matters shows 3.35 of every 100,000 children in Indiana died from abuse and neglect that year....
Decomposed body found in Near Westside house
A badly decomposed body was found in an abandoned house on the Near Westside this morning. The body was discovered at 6 a.m. at 1123 N. Tibbs Ave., and the person appears to have been dead for several months, said Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Lt....
Hammond couple found slain in Ill. forest
CHICAGO — The couple found dead in a Cook County Forest Preserve have been identified has the parents of a Chicago television host. CLTV producer Gerry Riles says the victims have been identified as 78-year-old Milton and 76-year-old Ruby...
Indiana trooper accused in Michigan robbery
LANSING, Mich. — Investigators say an Indiana state trooper was one of three armed men who broke into the home of a Lansing couple and robbed them. Elton Jones and two other men were arraigned Tuesday on charges of armed robbery, first-degree...
Bank branch manager may plead guilty in vault fire, theft
A bank branch manager who set a fire in a vault to cover up the theft of $30,000 and accidentally locked himself in the bank is scheduled to plead guilty today. Dwayne Roberts, a former manager at a Fifth Third Bank on the 5600 block of Georgetown...
Purdue music hall fires ruled arson
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Investigators ruled that two small fires in the basement of Purdue University’s Elliott Hall of Music were intentionally set and were searching for a man seen running from the building. The fire Monday night forced about 900...
Bank branch manager may plead guilty in vault fire, theft
A bank branch manager who police say set a fire in a vault to cover up the theft of $30,000 and accidentally locked himself in the bank is scheduled to plead guilty today. Dwayne Roberts, a former manager at a Fifth Third Bank on the 5600 block of...
Robbery suspect who prayed with victim surrenders
Guilt, apparently, continues to gnaw at a robber who prayed with his victim before he took $20 from her. Gregory Smith, 23, turned himself into police Tuesday after his mother saw him on television, police said. Smith, Indianapolis, faces a...
Police: Teen hunter made up shooting story
SULPHUR, Ind. — State police say a 16-year-old hunter accidentally shot himself with his rifle and made up a story about the shot possibly coming from a passing car. The boy was shot in the shoulder Monday morning in a wooded area near the...
Friend: TV report on killings left suspect speechless
Desmond Turner, branded a suspect the morning after seven members of a family were slain inside an Indianapolis house in 2006, was speechless when he saw his face on TV, a friend testified Monday. “He just looked at (the TV) and was just...
Suspect charged with firing at IMPD officer
Police arrested a 27-year-old man Tuesday they said fired an AK-47 assault-style rifle at a patrol officer on the Eastside. Cedric Tharpe, Indianapolis, faces preliminary charges of attempted conspiracy to commit murder; criminal recklessness with a...
Robber takes $20, prays with cashier
Man apologized, said ‘times were hard’ A robber holding a gun on an Advance America cashier Monday apologized to the woman for his actions but went ahead with his robbery even after praying with her. “He said that he hated to have...
After praying, man robs woman at gunpoint
A robber holding a gun on an Advance America cashier Monday apologized to the woman for his actions, but went ahead with his robbery even after praying with the victim. “He said that he hated to have to do this, but times were hard and he had...
Police seeking information on fatal shooting
Police continued to seek information Monday about events that led to a fatal shooting last week. Police believe two other people might have been with Scott Morin, 24, Indianapolis, when he suffered a gunshot wound Wednesday to his neck while standing...
Louisville players reach deal with Indiana prosecutors
JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind. — Two Louisville basketball players have reached a tentative plea agreement with Indiana prosecutors following a run-in with off-duty police officers at a restaurant earlier this month. Senior guard Jerry Smith and...
Teens flee bullet barrage on Eastside
Despite his bullet-riddled jacket, police said a 17-year-old boy escaped a barrage of gunfire unscathed during an Eastside street confrontation Sunday. Indianapolis metropolitan police said the boy and his 17-year-old friend had been challenged to a...
Robbery suspect drives through yards, fences
A robber who punched out a cashier to swipe $195 from a Southeastside tobacco shop cash register was arrested after a police car and foot chase Sunday. Jason Bass, 35, Battle Creek,, Mich., ran through stop lights, backyards and crashed through two...
CSI Indy? Not in Hamilton Avenue slayings case
It’s unusual — but not unheard of — for a grisly murder case to yield no physical evidence linking a suspect to the crime Investigators confronted a crime scene bloody beyond belief: seven bodies wounded a combined 31 times by...
Victim sues five women over party beating
MUNCIE — The victim of a beating and stomping at the hands — and feet — of a group of young women has filed a lawsuit against her assailants, claiming that they “intentionally and brutally attacked, assaulted and...
Continuance granted in triple murder trial
The capital trial of a man accused of killing his mother and two grandparents has been delayed until June or later. Marion Superior Court Judge Kurt Eisgruber on Thursday granted a defense motion for a continuance of Kenneth Lee Allen’s Jan. 4...
Indy man critical after Downtown shooting
An Indianapolis man is in critical condition with a gunshot wound to the head today after an early-morning argument at a Downtown Indianapolis nightclub. Indianapolis metropolitan police say Mohammed Steele, 27, apparently was involved in an earlier...
