Jeffrey Lee Battles, 46, of Lebanon, Ohio, is facing multiple felony charges in Lake County after a reported domestic violence incident at a Merrillville hotel. (Mugshot pending) According to court records filed in Lake County, authorities charged Battles in connection with an incident that reportedly occurred on or around Saturday, January 3, 2026, at the … Read more
Jimmie Smith Jr., 56, of Gary, is facing a felony resisting law enforcement charge along with additional counts following a late-night vehicle pursuit on Monday. According to court records, a Hobart Police officer was on patrol around 11:41 p.m. on January 5, 2026, when a 2004 Chevrolet Corvette was spotted traveling eastbound on 49th Avenue … Read more
Law enforcement officers discovered more than 300 pounds of cocaine during a routine DOT compliance inspection west of Indianapolis. At about 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 3, an Indiana State Police trooper stopped a blue International semi tractor-trailer traveling eastbound on I-70 near the 41-mile marker. During the inspection, the trooper observed criminal indicators and deployed … Read more
A Warsaw man was arrested after allegedly battering another man and preventing him from leaving a residence. Arnol Joel-Ortiz Santamaria, 48, of 340 E. Levi Lee Road Lot 212, Warsaw, faces charges of criminal confinement, a Level 6 felony, and domestic battery, a Class A misdemeanor. On Dec. 6, 2025, a Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office … Read more
Indiana lawmakers are considering a shift to performance-based ratemaking as utilities work to meet growing energy demand and legislators search for ways to curb rising customer bills. The discussion comes after major providers such as NIPSCO, Duke Energy, and AES Indiana rolled out rate increases averaging 17.5% statewide in 2024 and 2025. As lawmakers also … Read more
A 43-year-old Hammond man, Jeffery Boylett Jr., is facing several felony drug charges following a narcotics investigation that led to the execution of a search warrant at a Hammond residence. According to court documents, investigators looked into suspected drug activity at a home in the 1000 block of May Street during March, April, and May … Read more
A dispute between two brothers over rent turned deadly Saturday afternoon in Gary, becoming Lake County’s first homicide of 2026, according to court records and investigators. Officers with the Gary Police Department responded to the 1100 block of Taney Street following reports of a domestic altercation. When police arrived, they found 59-year-old Thomas C. Campbell … Read more
Reginald Dwayne Clark, 34, of Lansing, Illinois, is facing a felony fraud charge following an alleged credit card fraud scheme at a Menards store in Hammond. According to a probable cause affidavit, the incident occurred on November 14, 2025, at the Menards located in the 1200 block of 165th Street. Investigators allege Clark took part … Read more
Hector Andres Martinez, 27, of Winona Lake, Indiana, and Jesus Cristian Alanis Diaz, 26, of Chicago, Illinois, are facing drug charges following a traffic stop in Valparaiso that led to the discovery of marijuana and cocaine-related evidence. Additional cocaine was later found during Diaz’s booking at the jail. According to probable cause affidavits, police stopped … Read more
Shamaul Bonnie Pitts, 29, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Darius Demetrius Dunn, 24, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and Charles Lee Wallace, 25, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, are facing multiple felony and misdemeanor charges after a high-speed traffic stop on Interstate 94 in Porter County resulted in the seizure of a large amount of marijuana. According to court documents, an … Read more