Breitzke
Police say a Whiteland man stole power tools and sold them in a Johnson County courthouse annex parking lot.
The kicker: he unwittingly sold them to someone involved with a sting operation following a court hearing, according to a probable cause affidavit filed with Johnson County Superior Court 2.
Cody W. Breitzke, 28, faces two counts of burglary as a level 5 felony and two misdemeanor drug possession charges.
Breitzke was arrested on a warrant for these charges Monday, following a short foot pursuit near the 5000 block of Max Ave., Greenwood. He ran away when Johnson County deputies tried to arrest him, but they caught up to him in the area just north of Russell Lane, a sheriff’s office report on the incident says.
Breitzke was arrested on a resisting charge along with the warrant Monday but that charge was dropped, according to online court records.
The four charges filed with the warrant stem from two separate burglaries reported in January and February and from drugs found in Breitzke’s possession during a February traffic stop, the affidavit says.
The first burglary was reported on Jan. 27. A White River Township homeowner said multiple Milwaukee power tools were stolen from his home, which he had been remodeling. His initials were written on several tools and he provided serial numbers.
Through sources, deputies found out Breitzke was selling tools that matched the description of the tools that were stolen. A meeting was arranged to purchase the tools in early February, following a court hearing. Deputies matched the tools to the stolen items with the serial numbers reported by the homeowner, the affidavit says.
The second burglary was reported on Feb. 7 at another White River Township home. The homeowner said several Rigid cordless power tools and a battery charger were stolen from his garage.
Deputies again learned Breitzke had tools up for sale through sources. They located him on Feb. 22 and conducted a traffic stop near Sawmill Road and Park Forest North Drive in Whiteland.
A sheriff’s office K-9 smelled marijuana in a free-air sniff around his truck and the drugs, along with hypodermic needles, were found in a search of the truck. He was placed under arrest and questioned on the burglaries, the affidavit says.
He admitted to police that he stole items four times in the recent past, including the two White River Township incidents. Breitzke said he was sorry and he was trying to earn money because his girlfriend recently had a baby, the affidavit says.
Breitzke had been at the courthouse for a hearing on a separate domestic violence case that was filed in 2022, which is still pending.
He was previously sentenced to two years probation for a 2019 burglary case, which was decided by a plea agreement in Superior Court 3.
