Gallery: Recent arrests booked into Porter County Jail

A roundup of local crime and courts stories during the week.

HAMMOND — Former Portage Mayor James Snyder may learn before next Valentine’s Day if he faces a second jury trial on a bribery charge.

His defense attorney said he never shot toward police and claimed it is questionable whether he even knew he was being pursued by an officer.

VALPARAISO — Attorneys, the judge and court staff worked well beyond normal business hours Monday to pick a jury for this week's murder trial …

VALPARAISO — When Christopher Dillard met his much younger co-worker Nicole Gland during the early morning hours of April 19, 2017, for a coca…

VALPARAISO — Former Chesterton Tribune pressman Zachary Muller said something just did not look right when he drove up behind the newspaper's …

CHESTERTON — Officials were saddened to learn part of the Indiana Dunes State Park Pavilion was defaced with racist graffiti sometime last week.

LAPORTE COUNTY — The LaPorte County Sheriff's Office arrested a 41-year-old man during a countywide compliance check of all violent or sexuall…

VALPARAISO — After 23-year-old Nicole Gland was stabbed in Chesterton and left to die, whoever took her cellphone traveled west and south to t…

CENTER TWP. — A caregiver charged with stealing nearly $6,000 from one of her elderly clients had at one point purchased flowers and a birthda…

VALPARAISO — A Portage business owner pleaded guilty Friday to driving drunk just more than a year ago and causing a vehicle collision that ki…

VALPARAISO — Christopher Dillard made a threatening comment about his co-workers at the Upper Deck Lounge in Chesterton just hours before he a…

VALPARAISO — A former Porter County police officer accused of severely injuring his infant son, leaving the boy disabled and with a much short…

VALPARAISO — A former Porter Township school bus driver was sentenced Monday to nearly two years of formal probation after pleading guilty las…

VALPARAISO — Porter County Sheriff Detective Brian Dziedzinski showed a slicer-style knife with an 8-inch blade to jurors Monday afternoon tha…

VALPARAISO — The Indiana Court of Appeals has rejected a request by the defense to toss out the testimony of two eyewitnesses in a Portage mur…

VALPARAISO — A 50-year-old Virginia woman has been charged under Indiana's new revenge porn law in a three-person relationship dispute involvi…

VALPARAISO — Christopher Dillard did not shy away Tuesday afternoon from watching autopsy photos projected in the courtroom of the young woman…

VALPARAISO — A sexual affair gone bad between a Valparaiso woman and a Chicago news anchor spilled into a Porter County courtroom Wednesday wi…

CHESTERTON — A sign funded by family members of the local high school swim team announcing their repeated victories at the national and state …

MICHIGAN CITY — An 18-year-old Michigan City man has been charged in connection with a shooting Monday in the city that left a 17-year-old inj…

PORTAGE — A 24-year-old Hammond man accused of displaying a handgun during a road rage incident was taken into custody on a misdemeanor count …

VALPARAISO — Chicago Fox 32 news anchor Rafer Weigel has been suspended in the wake of allegations of a sexual affair with a Valparaiso woman …

VALPARAISO — A former inmate at the Porter County jail told jurors Friday that Christopher Dillard confessed to him while in a shared lockup t…

VALPARAISO — A 50-year-old Virginia woman is hoping to avoid trial in what has become a high-profile case charged under Indiana's new revenge …

VALPARAISO — A mental health evaluation is being sought for a 26-year-old man accused of stabbing a co-worker in August after being fired from…

VALPARAISO — Several people were on hand Monday morning to watch as a not guilty plea was entered on behalf of the former president of the par…

VALPARAISO — A 55-year-old Valparaiso woman is in custody after allegedly leading police on a pursuit early Monday.

VALPARAISO — Jurors watched a video Monday afternoon of Christopher Dillard telling police he had gone into co-worker Nicole Gland's vehicle j…

VALPARAISO — Following two days of salacious and heated accusations in the wake of an alleged sexual relationship gone bad between a Valparais…

VALPARAISO — Defense attorney and public defender Russell Brown Jr. urged jurors Wednesday not to interpret jail telephone calls from Christop…

VALPARAISO — A woman at the center of a criminal case involving explicit photos being sent to another woman was granted a protective order aga…

VALPARAISO — Two and a half years after receiving word that his 23-year-old daughter, Nicole Gland, had been brutally stabbed to death, Matthe…

PORTAGE — Police are warning homeowners to be on guard after an elderly woman was a near-victim of a distraction burglary. 

PORTAGE — Moments after a man staggered out of a house and fell, Tito Caudillo repeatedly struck him with a wooden board and then stepped on t…

CROWN POINT — A 20-year-old exchange student attending college in Indianapolis was the driver struck head-on and killed early Sunday by a moto…

A New York man faces two felony drug-related counts after police discovered a hypodermic needle filled with a brown liquid hidden in a Hugo Bo…

PORTAGE — Gary resident Centrell Ivey collided into another vehicle Monday afternoon, threatened the other driver and stole $160 after saying,…

WANATAH — A police pursuit in the Chesterton area late Tuesday morning resulted in the arrest of two people suspected of robbing a bank just a…

PORTAGE — A 37-year-old woman was taken into custody late Wednesday afternoon after refusing to take part in a drunken driving evaluation and …

VALPARAISO — A protective order is being challenged in a love triangle and dispute involving Chicago Fox 32 news anchor Rafer Weigel and a Val…

PORTAGE — After pulling over a female motorist suspected in a hit-and-run and asking her where she was coming from, police said the driver sta…

VALPARAISO — Nearly two years after police followed a trail of smeared blood to find a Portage resident shot and severely injured in the wake …

PORTAGE — After police discovered a vehicle in a deep ditch along a local stretch of U.S. 20 early Friday, the driver told officers he had smo…

PORTAGE — Submitting an anonymous crime tip or looking up the whereabouts of local sex offenders just got a whole lot easier with the recent i…

CHESTERTON — A variety of jewelry was stolen early Friday after someone shattered the front door and entered Ashley's Jewelry at 221 Broadway,…

VALPARAISO — A Hebron couple denies contributing to a double homicide carried out on their property and pointed the finger instead at the vict…

PORTAGE — A 33-year-old woman accused of breaking into her parents' home early Monday and stealing cash was found to be in possession of heroi…

VALPARAISO — A judge has denied a request to hold another hearing on a protective order involving a relationship gone sour among Chicago Fox 3…

PORTAGE — Police believe a 27-year-old Portage woman is in danger after disappearing Tuesday night with a man she met on Facebook, who was sup…

PORTAGE — Police have taken a third juvenile into custody in connection with the shooting death of a 27-year-old Portage woman, whose body was…

PORTAGE — Three men were expected to survive after being wounded in a gunfight early Saturday that left spent casings from various types of gu…

VALPARAISO — A 66-year-old Liberty Township man reportedly found with more than 1,000 sexual images of children between the ages of 3 and 15 p…

PORTAGE — A 27-year-old Portage woman was shot to death last week for $100 in what police say was a planned robbery staged as a marijuana deal.

A bar melee of 20 to 30 people ended in what police deemed an “active running gun battle” in front of a Portage bar, wounding four people. 

VALPARAISO — Two of the three Gary teens picked up in connection with last week's murder and robbery of a 27-year-old Portage woman they met t…

VALPARAISO — Just moments before sentencing a 39-year-old South Haven man to 38 years for rape, Porter Circuit Court Judge Mary Harper looked …

Porter Circuit Court Judge Mary Harper said her heart goes out to a young girl seated at the rear of the courtroom on Wednesday, after the years of sexual abuse the girl endured at the hands of 53-year-old Joseph Donfrio.

Porter County prosecutors are wasting no time in their effort to waive a 15-year-old Gary boy from juvenile to adult court to face charges stemming from the recent shooting death and robbery of a 27-year-old.

Police fear a Grinch may be at work in the community with the discovery of holiday decorations missing from downtown.

Connor Kerner, of Valparaiso, has asked for a change of venue for his Porter County murder trial.

A 45-year-old Hebron man man is accused of grabbing a woman by her throat and slamming her against a door, and grabbing her by her hair and putting a gun to her head.

Police are trying to identify two men accused of stealing a wallet and then making several fraudulent purchases Nov. 25.

LIBERTY TOWNSHIP — A 62-year-old man allegedly in possession of just more than an ounce of marijuana told police he could not believe he was being taken to jail considering the drug is legal where he once lived in California, police said.

A delay of at least 60 days is being sought for a hearing to determine whether a 15-year-old Gary boy will be waived to adult court to face charges of helping to murder and rob a Portage woman.

Police say a wrong-way driver reportedly swerved at the last minute to miss a cop before fleeing on Toll Road.

VALPARAISO — Just moments before Portage resident Rachael Van Sickle was to defend herself in court against accusations of illegally operating…

PORTAGE — A 35-year-old LaPorte man found driving his car Friday on a local stretch of the Prairie Duneland Trail was charged with drunk drivi…

Police have confirmed reports of a deceased man discovered around 7:40 a.m. Monday along Bullseye Lake Road, a short distance west of Calumet Avenue.

A mother and her boyfriend have been charged with felony kidnapping after fleeing Saturday evening with her two children, both of whom had been removed from her care out of concern about their welfare, Porter County police said.

The defense has won a delay until March 18 for a hearing to decide whether a 15-year-old Gary boy will be waived to adult court to face charges of helping to murder and rob a Portage woman.

An autopsy is scheduled Wednesday for Valparaiso Law School professor David Welter, who was found dead Monday morning alongside Bullseye Lake Road on the north side of the city.

Danielle Ostrander, 31, and David Allen, 56, both of the same Chesterton address, had initial court hearings Thursday on accusations of kidnapping Ostrander's two children during a supervised visit.

The Porter County coroner’s office is seeking help in locating family members of 70-year-old James Walters.

One person had to be cut out of their vehicle and others were taken to the hospital following a two-vehicle collision late Thursday morning along U.S. 6 at Ind. 49, according to the Liberty Township Volunteer Fire Department.

Public funding was approved Friday to have a mental health evaluation done on a 15-year-old Gary boy charged with two other juveniles in last month's robbery and shooting death of Portage resident Adriana Saucedo.

A delay was granted Monday for 12-day trial involving an 18-year-old Valparaiso man accused of murdering two fellow young people from Lake County during what he said was a drug deal gone bad.

One of four men charged in a violent home invasion that left a Portage resident shot and severely injured to was taken off to prison Monday.

Just more than three years after driving drunk and causing a crash that killed one person, a 27-year-old Westville woman was handcuffed in court and taken away to begin serving a four-year prison term.

Two months after being stripped of his public defender, a former Porter County police officer has yet to find an attorney to help defend him against charges of severely injuring his infant son.

Medics raced to the truck scales on I-94 just east of I-49 in response to a report of a truck driver found unconscious in his vehicle, police said.

Police said the theft occurred at Pats Liquors on U.S. 20 near Waverly Road. Surveillance footage shows a white vehicle, possibly a VW Jetta, entering the store's parking lot about 5 a.m., with a white male quickly exiting the car and going toward the vending machine.

A motorcyclist was airlifted Sunday evening after colliding with a vehicle that had pulled out in front of him on Ind. 149, according to Porter County police.

Porter County Prosecutor Gary Germann has declined an appointment as special prosecutor in the criminal misconduct case involving Michigan City Mayor Ron Meer.

HAMMOND — Defense lawyers seeking to clear former Portage Mayor James E. Snyder of public corruption charges are replaying some old arguments …

Police say he told them he saw oncoming traffic, but didn't think anything of it because he was tired.

A Gary man who previously served 24 years in prison for murder is entitled to no reduction in his new 30-year sentence for sexually assaulting a woman and stealing items from her home, the state appeals court has ruled.

He was found behind the wheel of a Jeep that was in the grass, running with the driver's side door open, police said

A 22-year-old Lake Station woman faces felony drug and other charges after she was found passed out in traffic with two young children in her vehicle, according to police.

Police say the boy, along with two others, shot a 27-year-old and stole $80 from her on Nov. 19. They eventually dumped her body in an abandoned school.

Police say he caused $300 in damages. He then remained in the business "for some time," but took nothing.

Nearly three years after stabbing a 23-year-old to death outside the bar where they both worked, Christopher Dillard was sentenced Thursday to a maximum of 65 years behind bars.

A local couple were awoke early Thursday by an unknown woman standing in their home asking to sleep on their couch, according to Porter County police.

A 41-year-old Valparaiso man was ordered to remain behind bars after a judge determined he intentionally reached out to the alleged victim through Facebook in violation of a court order.

The manner of death was ruled accidental. The findings from the autopsy and toxicology tests brings an end to the investigation into the case, the coroner's office said.

Within just a few hours of recreational marijuana being made legal in neighboring Michigan a year ago, an impaired motorist was nabbed driving…

Police are seeking help identifying a man who carried out an armed robbery at Sunday at a 7-Eleven store in Valparaiso.

A 26-year-old Hammond man was taken into custody after allegedly shutting off the headlights on his vehicle and leading police on a chase of nearly 90 mph on a county road, according to the incident report.

The case is now in the hands of a local jury to decide whether a police officer was at fault when she crashed into a bicyclist while on duty.

Valparaiso police are seeking the public's help in identifying two women sought in connection with the theft of a wallet and the fraudulent use of credit cards at the local Best Buy store.

Police believe they may have finally nabbed the man responsible for wearing nothing more than a face mask while standing alongside Interstate 94 on several occasions within the last several months.

The 54-year-old was sentenced to four years behind bars after pleading guilty to molesting a girl beginning when she was 12.

Jurors were told earlier this week that the cop was speeding and had been texting when she struck the bicyclist.

Police say he deposited and withdrew thousands of dollars at a bank through the use of stolen, altered checks. 

He reportedly told the girl not to tell anyone "or he would get in trouble," police said.

Prosecutors are dismissing a teen's attempts to keep his murder case from being moved to adult court in the November killing of a woman.

A 26-year-old man will not be allowed to have his dog in court with him this time when he faces a jury on misdemeanor charges of failing to cooperate with police.

Prosecutors dismissed a criminal revenge porn case Tuesday, saying the matter is best left to be resolved in the civil courts.

A criminal charge and now a protective order have been dismissed in the alleged revenge porn case involving a Valparaiso woman and Chicago Fox 32 news anchor Rafer Weigel, but the drama continued in court Wednesday morning.

The 18-year-allegedly swung at his mother and repeatedly punched his step-father because he was upset about his missing cell phone, police said.

Police are looking to identify a man after multiple credit cards were stolen and used at Best Buy.

A 15-year-old charged with murdering a Portage woman late last year has failed in his first attempt to block his murder case from being waived to adult court.

Police came across a surprise when they went to pat down a shoplifting suspect for weapons.

She said her vehicle had been broken down for 30 to 45 minutes and she believed help was on the way, according to the incident report.

A three-vehicle collision snarled traffic along a local stretch of U.S. 30 early Friday afternoon.

More than a decade after a Hebron man is accused of molesting a 6-year-old girl, he will face a jury.

Violent crimes, such as murder and robbery, increased by nearly 10%, according to a year-end evaluation done by the county sheriff's department.

Found asleep with a cigarette dangling from his mouth after crashing into a tree, he said he swerved to avoid a salamander in the road. He then changed his story to blame an armadillo, police said.

A suspicious social media message being shared by local students was found to have no credibility or pose any threat of violence at this time, police said.

A reflector came crashing through the windshield and side window of the bus, scattering glass on a couple students, according to police.

Family members of Adriana Saucedo, one wearing a "Justice for Adriana" pin, came face to face Tuesday morning with one of three young people accused of murdering the 27-year-old Portage woman.

Police are seeking help identifying a man seen stealing several hundred dollars worth of merchandise from the local Walmart store.

Prosecutors kicked off the trial with the revelation that the purported victim had fabricated the more serious allegations against the accused 73-year-old.

The 37-year-old was taken into custody on charges of intoxicated driving after a passenger in her vehicle called police for help.

Police are asking for help identifying a suspect they say stole from a Menards on Tuesday.

She fought back tears Wednesday as she told jurors why she remembers her favorite outfit as a 5-year-old girl.

The jury deliberated for about 4.5 hours Thursday before returning with a split decision, 6-6. It's unclear if prosecutors will retry the case.

Veach resigned early Friday from the Portage Plan Commission and Park Board ahead of showing up later in the morning to plead guilty in federal court to a felony extortion charge, according to one of his attorneys.