Oct. 19—GOSHEN — A man accused of attempted murder pleaded guilty to during Thursday’s court proceedings.
Navneet Singh, 29, Elkhart, is accused of attempted murder after allegedly shooting himself and his girlfriend Jessica Campos outside of 884 Hiawatha Drive, Elkhart. A neighbor called to report the two individuals covered in blood, having been shot inside the home and moving out to sit on the porch around 1 p.m. April 20.
Singh reportedly told officers on site that he shot Campos, and then shot himself. Singh was shot in the top of his head, and confirmed to medics while in transport to Elkhart General Hospital for treatment that his goal had been to kill Campos, who had an injury to the front of her face near her nose and was taken to South Bend Memorial Hospital for more intensive medical care, according to the charging affidavit.
The affidavit from the Elkhart City Police Department also reveals a cousin of Campos’ produced text messages from her alleging that Singh was holding her confined in her bedroom at the home, that he kept pointing a gun at her, told her they were both going to die, threatened to shoot her if the cops arrived and instead asking her to call Singh’s father, over about a half hour period leading up to the shooting. A video sent to the cousin shows Singh standing on a dresser that is blocking the doorway to the bedroom, and two move videos show Singh aiming a black handgun in her direction, court records show.
A sentencing hearing is scheduled for Nov. 16.
ROBERT A.R. NORMAN
A Bristol man is accused of setting fire to his former boss’ work vehicles after being fired and refused pay.
Robert A.R. Norman, 39, Bristol, is charged with arson at 19623 C.R. 8, Bristol, dating back to Aug. 20.
According to a probable cause affidavit, the victims reported to Elkhart County deputies that Norman had told them he was going to burn their house down earlier in the day or the day before.
One of the victims told police that Norman had been working for him but was fired due to poor work performance and use of drugs while on the job. He also told Norman he would not be paid until he removed personal effects from the victim’s backyard and alleged that Norman tried to start a physical fight with him.
Police also noted that they had been called out on Aug. 19 for Norman threatening to set fires to the other victim’s property. On Aug. 4, police say Norman had also set his own car on fire on their property, and later that week, he did donuts in the yard causing damage.
At 3 a.m. Aug. 20, the first victim told police that a woman he didn’t know rang his doorbell to inform him that his backyard was on fire. There he found his International 400 work truck and stump chipper on fire.
Norman admitted to setting his own car on fire and doing donuts in the victim’s yard earlier in the month, and said he was upset about not being paid correctly but denied setting the other vehicles on fire.
During his initial hearing Thursday, Norman was assigned a public defender. He has a status conference scheduled for Nov. 16, a trial status conference scheduled for June 20, and a jury trial date of July 15.
JOSEPH W. ORRICK and DAKOTA HOLT
Two men accused of burglary at an addiction recovery center in Elkhart had their first day in court Thursday.
Joseph W. Orrick, 68, and Dakota Holt, 18, of are charged with burglary of Indiana Teen Challenge, 111 W. Bristol St.
According to a probable cause affidavit, the property manager contacted police at 8:15 a.m. Oct. 11 to report a white SUV driving a high rate of speed that had parked near the loading dock of the building. Police ran the plates on the vehicle and found that they did not match the vehicle, which was unoccupied.
Two men had entered the building through a door propped open. While the property manager was taking a photo of the vehicle to have it towed, he saw two men putting a large fan into the back and attempting to leave.
The driver was identified as Orrick. He and his nephew, Orrick told them had come to get some scrap from the property and had picked up various doorknobs and parts to take in for scrap money, as well as the fan. Speaking to officers, Holt said he was unaware of what they were doing but was found with hand tools including channel lock pliers, a knife, and a head light on his person when he exited the vehicle.
A background check on Orrick resulted in multiple previous burglary charges but convictions weren’t immediately clear due to the age of the cases, while Holt was found to have no prior criminal history. The case, as of Thursday, are not being tried jointly, however, both men have a status conference scheduled for Nov. 16, a trial status conference on June 20, and jury trial scheduled for July 15.
KAILA M. HIMES
A woman who was high while driving is being charged with a Level 5 Felony after a pedestrian she hit fell unconscious.
Kaila Himes, 24, LaGrange, is charged with causing serious bodily injury when operating a vehicle while intoxicated on Jan. 12.
According to a probable cause affidavit, Himes was driving west on U.S. 20 in Middlebury when her vehicle went off-road. A witness reported seeing Himes veer off the road, striking a pedestrian at 45 to 55 miles per hour.
Himes was alleged by police to have a “dazed look on her face, slurred speech, and bloodshot eyes. She was not making sense while speaking and had no idea when she crashed her car.”
Himes agreed to a chemical test and while being placed into handcuffs, informed an officer that she had a THC vape pen in her bra and handed it over to police. The chemical test resulted in a positive finding for THC.
The pedestrian Brian Mast, was checking his mailbox at the time, suffered an ulnar fracture, a skull fracture with concussion, and a subarachnoid hematoma.
Himes has a status conference scheduled for Nov. 16, a trial status conference scheduled for June 20, and a jury trial date of July 15.
Samuel P. Dux, Jr, 27, Elkhart, is accused of burglary at a rental home in Elkhart Oct. 9.
According to police, a resident of 2108 W. Indiana Ave., Elkhart called at 5:56 p.m. Oct. 9 to report a possible residential entry. The tenant told police that he rents a room there and was at the time the only person living there but that he’s seen someone else inside that was not supposed to be there and who refused to leave.
Maintenance and the owner for the residence also onfirmed the resident’s assertion that he was the only person to be living there.
The resident also said the person had stolen his yellow North Face hoodie, and was wearing it around. Police found the man and asked him to come to them, but he refused, stating that he had a key.
Eventually, the man, identified as Dux, did come to police and surveillance footage showed Dux forcing entry around 1 a.m.
A status conference is scheduled for Nov. 16, a trial status conference for June 20, and there is a jury trial date of July 15.
JUAN C. SOLANO CRUZ
A Nappanee teen is being charged with causing death when operating a vehicle while intoxicated after a crash Sunday.
A probable cause affidavit for the case claims that Juan C. Solano Cruz, 18, Nappanee, may have been on CNS depressants such as Xanax, Valium, or Klonopin based on a drug recognition evaluation. Solano Cruz submitted to a chemical test with results pending.
The crash occurred at 8:53 p.m. Nappanee Police were called to Main Street and Heritage Parkway for a report of a vehicle crossing the center line directly into the pathway of a transit van heading south.
At the scene, Solano Cruz said he’d never received a license, and police said his eyes were bloodshot and glassy and his speech was slow and slurred.
The transit van had 10 occupants, and there was a pedestrian on the roadway. Paramedics advised that passenger, Elizabeth Borkholder, 83, New Paris, died at the scene. Her daughter-in-law, Christina Borkholder, 58, New Paris, was placed into the intensive care unit at Elkhart General Hospital for multiple spinal and rib fractures.
Pedestrian Kirstyn Truex, 34, Nappanee, sustained injury to her face, needing “severe reconstruction,” the affidavit indicated.
A status conference is scheduled for Nov. 16, a trial status conference for June 20, and there is a jury trial date of July 15.
KANE TRUMAN
An Elkhart man is being charged with burglarizing his girlfriend in July. Kane Truman, 25, Elkhart, met with Elkhart County Circuit Court Judge Michael Christofeno Tuesday for a trial status conference, where his attorney confirmed his trial date scheduled for June 3.
According to a probable cause affidavit, police were called to 57046 Tower Road in Elkhart where a woman claimed that she’d been in an argument with her boyfriend Kane Truman, 25, Elkhart, at his apartment before walking home to her trailer on the Tower Road property.
The woman alleged that when she got there Truman’s vehicle was parked outside, but as she got closer, drove away quickly. She went inside and found her Chromebook missing, and a screwdriver stabbed into her counter next a crystal rock she knew to be his.
Later in the day, the woman called to inform them that Truman had come by and returned several items including the computer.
When questioned by police, Truman admitted to taking the items, only because he believed she had taken items from his apartment.
ELIZABETH J. FEUQUAY
A woman accused of hitting a man on a bike and causing serious injury while high in early October met in court Thursday to address why she hadn’t yet procured an attorney.
Elizabeth Feuquay, 23, Elkhart, informed the court that she’s paid biweekly, so she hasn’t hired an attorney yet but still intends to retain Wilson & Kinsman.
Feuquay allegedly left the scene of a crash at Roys Avenue and Mishawaka Road in Oct. 3, where she hit a bicyclist in a Jeep Renegade. The victim claimed that Feuquay got out of the vehicle and asked if he was okay, but left after the witness arrived. He recorded a video of the vehicle leaving the scene.
At Elkhart General Hospital, the victim found to have a broken jaw.
When police made contact with Feuquay by phone, she explained to them that she was on her way into work in Michigan City and they told her to come back. When she was pulled over on the U.S. 20 bypass, she pulled onto the left side of the roadway, and officers assumed she was impaired due to failing to yield properly. As the vehicle was being impounded for Feuquay’s arrest on a charge of failure to yield, officers performed an inventory on it, and found a THC vape.
Upon interview, Feuquay attempted the crash to police and told them she’d checked on the victim and knew he was hurt, but made a bad decision, officers wrote in the affidavit.
Feuquay was cited for disregarding a stop sign, failure to yield the right-of-way at an intersection, failure to yield to emergency traffic, and having no valid drivers license.
She was arrested on charges of leaving the scene of an accident causing serious bodily injury, possession of paraphernalia, possession of marijuana, and operating a vehicle while intoxicated causing injury.
Feuquay’s pretrial conference is scheduled for Nov. 9, omnibus date Dec. 7, trial status conferenece June 20, and the case is scheduled for jury trial July 15.
DOUG B. STREETMAN
A man who allegedly attacked his uncle and accused him of sleeping with his mother was in court Thursday morning on charges of burglary resulting in bodily injury, intimidation, criminal mischief and domestic battery.
According to a probable cause affidavit, officers were dispatched to 23455 for a burglary in progress. The caller advised that her cousin Doug Streetman, 36, had entered his uncle David Streetman’s home at 23455 Farmington Ave. by breaking the window and that the was drunk. David told police upon arrival that he’d been punched in the face several times, the affidavit reads, and that his nephew Doug had accused him of sleeping with Doug’s mother, and threatened to kill him, leaving the property in a car that was registered to someone else. Due to injuries including blood on his face and a bruised jaw, it was presumed that Streetman entered the home through the broken window, the affidavit reads.
The vehicle was located at 59724 C.R. 113 still running. Officers were advised that Streetman was there and permitted inside. Streetman was then arrested.
Streetman’s jury trial is was rescheduled from Oct. 2 to June 3, with further proceedings scheduled for Oct. 19 and hopes of a resolution.
On Thursday, Streetman had a further proceedings hearing that was continued to coincide with a trial status conference scheduled for May 9. The trial date is scheduled for June 3.
EDUARDO A. RUEDA, Jr.
One of two Elkhart teens accused in a Feb. 2 armed robbery explained to the court that he didn’t know an upcoming trial was scheduled. Eduardo A. Rueda, Jr.’s attorney Jeffrey Majerik had been hospitalized and assumed the trial would be continued and didn’t notice it hadn’t been. Elkhart County Judge Michael Christofeno ordered a bondsman to produce following the missed hearing Sept. 21.
Eduardo Rueda and Johnathan Martinez are accused of a Feb. 2 armed robbery in Twin Pines Mobile Home Park in Goshen. According to a probable cause affidavit, the victim, also 16, had made an Instagram post selling a PlayStation 5, which Rueda responded to with interest in the purchase.
Rueda allegedly went to the teen’s home and the two of them were outside discussing the transaction when a white Chevrolet Silverado with no license plate pulled up and a man in a ski mask exited the vehicle and pointed a gun at him and took the PlayStation. The white truck was later linked to Martinez.
Investigators found surveillance footage that led them to believe that Rueda and Martinez had met earlier in the afternoon at Martin’s Supermarket, 3800 Mishawaka Road, and found evidence of communications between the two via SnapChat as they drove in their separate vehicles from Martin’s to Twin Pines, and a SnapChat image to a group chat including Rueda of a PlayStation and gun in the Martinez’ passengers’ seat and announcing to the chat the successful robbery. It also, by video, led investigators to believe the two met up and transferred the gun and game system to Rueda’s vehicle at Hobby Lobby parking lot, and Rueda set the robbery up.
Ruedo and Martinez are scheduled separately for trial status conference May 9, and a jury trial June 3.
JEREMY C. SHULT
A man charged with burglarizing a California Road home in January may have a plea bargain in the works. Jeremy C. Shult, 36, is accused of burglarizing a home located at 2527 California Road at 11:36 a.m. Jan. 13 and his attorney told the court Thursday to retain his Feb. 22 status conference while they work on the plea deal.
According to a probable cause affidavit, a youth placed a call to 911 indicating that Shult was inside the home, had multiple warrants, and that the caller had gone outside where he was hiding behind a fence, later providing a statement affirming he did see Shult take items from the home.
Officers arrived and saw Shult exiting the home and after garnering backup and getting the youth to safety, they attempted to apprehend Shult, who fled by vehicle, disregarding traffic speed limits and control devices inside Elkhart city limits, officers said in the affidavit, before fleeing on foot.
While fleeing on foot, his gun, a loaded .22 caliber firearm, was seen being discarded into a bush on Kilbourn Street, the affidavit reads. Eventually, Shult was apprehended and officers determined that based on property located within the vehicle, the estimated value of the purses, jewelry, electronics, and other items taken from the home was valued at about $6,600.
Shult also has a previous conviction for auto theft in 2011 and officers at the jail said they found a counterfeit $100 bill in his possession during booking.
Dani Messick is the education and entertainment reporter for The Goshen News. She can be reached at dani.messick@goshennews.com or at 574-538-2065.