Two people who were facing criminal charges in local courts have pled guilty and been sentenced on charges including fleeing law enforcement and possessing methamphetamine.
The Daily Journal has previously reported on these cases and is sharing this update to give resolution to our earlier reporting on crime in the community.
Probation for fleeing police
An Indianapolis man was sentenced to probation for fleeing police following a vape shop robbery that took place in May 2023.
Daylon L. Hall Jr., 30, pled guilty to resisting law enforcement as a Class A Misdemeanor before Judge Douglas Cummins of Superior Court 3 in November. A count of theft was dismissed as part of the plea agreement. Hall is sentenced to 365 days, with 18 days credit time, and 347 days suspended to active probation. He is to complete the Life Skills Program while on probation, online court records show.
On May 9, 2023, Greenwood police were called to the Vape & Smoke Shop, 11 Declaration Drive, on a report of a robbery in progress. Johnson was seen leaving the store with trash bags full of items, and stole nearly $10,000 in merchandise during the burglary, prosecutors say.
Hall and another man, Marcus L. Johnson, 27, of Indianapolis, were seen getting into a vehicle that fled the scene. When officers found the vehicle on U.S. 31, it fled at a high rate of speed after an attempted traffic stop, according to a Greenwood Police Department report.
The driver, Johnson, was driving in a manner police described as “reckless.” When the car reached Stop 18 Road, police say it did a full circle turn in the middle of the intersection before going east on Stop 18 Road.
At the intersection of Stop 18 Road and Profit Street, the sedan struck an SUV and continued to flee eastbound. The driver of the SUV reported severe pain, police say.
The sedan then turned north onto Sheek Road. As the car approached the curve at Sheek Road and Main Street, it lost control and crashed into the parking lot of White Castle. Two men jumped out of the car and fled on foot, according to the report.
Johnson was caught immediately. Hall allegedly ran north across Main Street into the parking lot of Best Western, where he was captured, the report says.
Johnson previously pled guilty to burglary as a Level 5 felony before Judge Cummins on July 20. He was sentenced the same day to four years in prison with a 72-day jail credit, according to online court records.
Five years for meth, car chase
A Jennings County man was sentenced for possessing meth and leading police on a chase from Franklin to Whiteland in June 2022.
Andrew C. Barker, 39, of Paris Crossing, pled guilty to possession of methamphetamine, as a Level 5 Felony, resisting law enforcement, as a Level 6 Felony, and reckless driving, as a Class C Misdemeanor before Judge Andrew Roesener of Circuit Court in November.
For the meth charge, he was sentenced to five years, of which two years shall be executed as a direct commitment to home detention and 3 years suspended to probation. For the lesser charges, he was sentenced to 910 days and 60 days, respectively, online court records show.
These sentences will be served concurrently and consecutively with a separate Jennings County case. A second count of resisting law enforcement was dismissed via plea agreement, online court records show.
Barker is additionally ordered to continue drug treatment and mental health counseling, court records show.
The incident leading up to Barker’s arrest a driver had reported they were being followed by a silver pickup truck that was trying to run vehicles off of the road. At the time of the report, the caller was passing a motel in the 5000 block of U.S. 31 South, according to a sheriff’s office report.
The deputy observed the truck following the caller too closely in the left lane and then abruptly switch to the right lane. He turned on his emergency lights to conduct a traffic stop on U.S. 31 at South Street in Franklin, according to the report.
The truck began to move over into the right turn lane at South Street, but then it abruptly traveled left across both northbound lanes of U.S. 31 and turned left into the Franklin Lakes subdivision. The deputy tried to get the truck to comply with emergency sirens, but the driver — identified as Barker — did not and veered back to the right and cut off all northbound U.S. 31 traffic once the stoplight turned green, the report says.
Barker then pulled over to the right shoulder and came to a stop just north of Franklin Lakes Boulevard/South Street. The deputy approached Barker, and noticed he was acting “very odd.” The deputy asked for Barker’s license and Barker gave it to him, and then drove away in an “erratic way,” according to the report.
As he fled north on U.S. 31, he switched lanes constantly, ran into the grass near Schoolhouse Road, then drove north on U.S. 31 at about 51 mph. At this time, he hit a stop stick deployed by Franklin Police, which punctured his right front tire. He then drove north on the southbound lanes of U.S. 31, reaching speeds of about 90 mph, the report says.
As the pursuit approached Earlywood Drive, Barker then moved back onto the northbound lanes of U.S. 31. He continued going north and eventually stopped next to the Clark Pleasant Library Branch in Whiteland, the report says.
Barker exited the vehicle and ran toward the library parking lot. Deputies caught him with the help of a K-9, taser and leg shackles, as he continued to resist multiple efforts to get him to comply, the report says.
A bag of meth weighing 6.7 grams was found in Barker’s vehicle, according to the report.
