Law and Order Lake County
October 24, 2012 3:30PM
Updated: October 24, 2012 11:39PM
Hobart
Probation for sex with disabled teen
Lake Superior Court Judge Clarence Murray sentenced a rural Valparaiso man to one year on probation for sexual misconduct with a minor.
Michael Andrew Dazzena, 23, admitted he had a sexual relationship in May 2010 with a 14-year-old Hobart girl, who initially told Dazzena she was 16. Dazzena told the girl he was 17.
Defense attorney Roseann Ivanovich said her client has a mental disability and attention deficit disorder. “He feels bad about what happened,” Ivanovich said.
Murray agreed to enter Dazzena’s felony conviction as a misdemeanor. Dazzena had faced six to 20 years on the original charge.
HIGHLAND
Man sought in attempted burglary
Highland Police are searching for a Hispanic man in his mid 30s who is suspected of breaking into a home Wednesday morning.
Cmdr. George Georgeff said the break-in occurred around 7:30 a.m. in the 2700 block of 39th Place. Georgeff said the parents there had just left for work, and the high-school-age daughter was getting her younger brother ready for elementary school.
The teen heard someone coming through the back door, so she locked her brother in a room and went to another room to call police. While she was on the phone, she heard someone come to the door, but the man fled the house without taking anything.
“We think that the burglar was watching the house, and he thought it was a good opportunity to rob the house when the parents left,” Georgeff said.
An officer spotted the man running down the street and started chasing him. Police set up a perimeter, but the man wasn’t caught. A neighbor said that the man jumped over a fence and tossed
Georgeff said the man was about 5-feet 9-inches tall and 200 pounds, and he was wearing dark sweatpants.
If anyone has information on the incident, call 838-3181 to speak to a detective.
Hebron
Man admits making threats, stalking
Lake Superior Court Judge Diane Ross Boswell sentenced a Hebron man to four years for stalking and receiving stolen property.
Dustin Keith Frampton, 21, will serve two years in Lake County Community Corrections, followed by two years on probation for the crimes.
Frampton admitted on Jan. 11 he threatened to hire a hit man to put a gun in the mouth of the mother of his child if she did not let him see their child. Frampton also admitted he had made a series of threats to the woman to kill her or members of her family during the last two years.
In a separate case, Frampton admitted he and others came into possession of items in March 2011 that he knew had been stolen and assisted in the receipt, retention or disposal of the stolen goods.
Frampton had faced two to eight years in the stalking case, and a maximum three-years in the theft case.
Merrillville
Unemployment fraud case ends
Lake Superior Court Judge Clarence Murray sentenced a Merrillville man to three years on probation for theft.
Clarence D. Andrews, 46, admitted he received public assistance in the form of unemployment benefits on a weekly basis between January 2009 and March 2010 while working at LaSalle Steel Co., and making more than $500 per week.
Andrews told the judge he made a mistake and wants to move forward with his life. His plea agreement requires him to pay $250 per month in restitution toward the more than $37,000 he owes in restitution to the state. The balance of the money owed will be reduced to a judgment.
If Andrews complies with the terms of his probation, he may ask the judge to reduce his felony conviction to a misdemeanor.
