Published: January 28, 2008 09:12 pm         

Realtor thwarts burglary in progress

PITTSBORO — An area Realtor was surprised over the weekend when she went to check on a vacant house and discovered a burglary in progress.

Hendricks County Sheriff’s Capt. Brett Clark said deputies were called to 2412 Frontage Road in Pittsboro around 9:30 a.m. Saturday.

When deputies arrived, he said, they found the Realtor blocking the drive, preventing one of the suspects from leaving. A second suspect was able to escape, Clark said.

Julie Klinedinst, a RE/MAX real estate agent from Lebanon, said a neighbor called to let her know that the gate to the property was unlocked and that they had seen a gray truck parked at the house.

Klinedinst said the house has been on the market for three to four months, and that no one is currently living there. She said she went to the property to check on it and to secure the gate. When she pulled into the long drive leading up to the house, however, she said she saw a truck, a trailer, and two men standing outside the house.

Klinedinst blocked the drive with her car and then called police.

She said both of the men confronted her, telling her they were just leaving the house and that they had the owner’s permission to be there. When she informed them that she had called the police, she said one of the men drove around her car, but the other was unable to follow.

Klinedinst was able to provide deputies with the license plate number of the vehicle that escaped.

Clark said the home had been damaged and several items were missing.

“I don’t think this is the first time people have tried to break in,” he added.

Klinedinst said the home had been broken into earlier with copper wiring, plumbing, cabinets, and windows being taken.

“They literally ripped the wiring from the walls,” she said.

The two men she came across Saturday were allegedly taking scrap metal.

Deputies arrested Daniel R. Paul, 33, of Indianapolis, and charged him with burglary, a class C felony, and driving while suspended with a prior conviction, a class A misdemeanor. He is being held at the Hendricks County Jail in Danville on a $25,000 bond.

Paul is also wanted on a warrant out of Putnam County for failure to appear in a child support case.

Clark said they are currently looking for Mick T. Basham, 32, of Jamestown, who is believed to be the man who escaped Saturday. He is described as a white male with brown hair and brown eyes, 5’11” tall and weighing about 135 pounds. Police said he may be driving a silver 1990 Mercury Cougar 2D with the license plate EH1586.

Clark said authorities have been trying to locate Basham for several weeks for questioning in other burglaries in the North Salem and Lizton areas during September, October and November of 2007. He said he may also be a suspect in several burglaries in Boone and Montgomery counties.

Hendricks County Sheriff’s Det. Lt. Roger Call recovered nearly $10,000 worth of property from several area pawn shops that was identified as coming from the North Salem and Lizton burglaries. Police say the majority of the burglaries were from garages and outbuildings.

Anyone with information on Basham’s whereabouts is asked to call the Hendricks County Sheriff’s Department at 745-6269.

amanda.roach@flyergroup.com

     

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