Law and Order Lake County
October 25, 2012 4:34PM
Updated: November 27, 2012 10:58AM
Highland
Probation only
for stabbing man
A Hebron man who admitted he repeatedly stabbed another man in 2009 was placed on probation and ordered to pay restitution to the victim.
Brandon Podsiadlik, 25, admitted he approached Shawn Laborde as he was leaving his home in Highland and stabbed him repeatedly, then fled. Laborde was rushed to a hospital for treatment of numerous stab wounds and sustained permanent disfigurement and nerve damage to his face and arms as a result of the Dec. 15, 2009, attack.
Lake Superior Court Judge Clarence Murray imposed the four-year sentence to be served on probation, as outlined in the plea agreement. Podsiadlik must pay $1,878 in restitution to Laborde.
Podsiadlik, who pleaded guilty to battery, had faced six to 20 years on the original charge of aggravated battery.
SCHERERVILLE
Teen claims robbery, then clams up
An 18-year-old woman told police she was robbed by a man at knifepoint in the Wal-Mart parking lot at 1555 U.S. 41 Thursday afternoon.
She told police the man robbed her after she offered to give him a ride. After the female was brought to the Schererville Police Department, she chose to sign a waiver of investigation and refused to cooperate any further with detectives.
Hobart
Man accused of molesting girl
A Gary man has been charged in Lake Superior Court with two counts of child molesting.
Kenneth Ray Barnett, 47, is accused of molesting the girl between 2007 and 2009 in Hobart. The girl, who was 10 to 12 years old at the time, told police Barnett fondled her, forced her to perform oral sex and engaged in other sexual activity with the girl.
The most serious of the charges is punishable by a sentence of 20 to 50 years.
Hammond
Five years’ prison for garage burglary
Lake Superior Court Judge Salvador Vasquez sentenced a Hammond man to five years in prison for burglary.
Mitchell Lee Thompson, 51, admitted he pried open the service door of a garage in the 4300 block of Ash Avenue and stole various tools. The burglary occurred Sept. 13.
Thompson’s plea agreement spelled out the five-year prison sentence. In exchange for his guilty plea, prosecutors agreed not to file an habitual offender sentencing enhancement.
