An Indianapolis man faces nine charges of theft in Johnson County after he went on a crime spree in 2019, stealing tens of thousands of dollars worth of items from at least 20 vehicles and a local department store.
Serial thief Justin David Parham, 30, was also recently sentenced to about two years in jail and a year of probation for similar charges in Marion County, according to court documents.
Parham has been held at the Johnson County jail since last fall. Late last week, jail staff transported him to a Marion County court for his sentencing on those out-of-county charges, before being brought back to Johnson County.
He was then booked back into the Johnson County jail, where is he awaiting court dates on nine felony theft charges.
Last November, Greenwood police were dispatched to Kohl’s, 550 Fry Road, on a report of shoplifting. Parham told an officer he stole shorts and shoes from the store, according to court documents.
Police also found a bag of methamphetamine and 36 amphetamine pills in Parham’s pocket. Police then discovered he had a warrant for the Marion County charges. The Johnson County Prosecutor’s Office charged Parham with two counts of theft on Nov. 21, court documents said.
The other seven counts of theft stem from multiple incidents last year in Johnson County.
A Greenwood officer was dispatched June 14 to the Red Roof Inn in Greenwood, by a man who said someone had gone through his vehicle and he was missing video games, a $6,000 watch, two cell phones, a digital camera and a computer pad.
Video surveillance showed Parham walking through the inn’s parking lot and pulling on vehicle handles. The video then shows Parham enter the man’s truck, court documents said.
Police took the photo of Parham to InTown Suites in Greenwood, and an employee recognized the photo as a current guest of the hotel, according to court documents.
Police searched the room where Parham was staying and found dozens of items that were stolen from vehicles, including mail, passports, driver’s licenses, credit cards, tax statements, birth certificates, bank statements and other items that are typically left in vehicles, such as digital navigation systems and garage door openers, court documents said.
Documents found in the room matched the information for people who had reported items stolen out of their vehicles at various times last spring and summer in Greenwood, documents said.
Parham had pawned some items and attempted to use some debit and credit cards of victims.
Parham, 5253 Rolling Meadow Blvd., has a jury trial scheduled in March in Johnson County Superior Court 2 for most of the theft charges, according to court documents.
He has multiple additional theft charges and convictions in central Indiana, court documents said.
