Lake County Law and Order
July 21, 2011 3:20PM
Updated: November 2, 2011 2:57AM
Gary
Seaton to have bench trial in fall for car registration
A bench trial is set for October in the case of former Democratic candidate for Lake County Assessor Carol Ann Seaton.
Earlier this year, Lake County Prosecutor Bernard Carter announced Seaton had been offered a deferral program on a misdemeanor charge stemming from the out-of-state registration of vehicles. Carter described the program as a one-year deferral with the charge against Seaton being dismissed upon successful completion.
A call into Carter wasn’t immediately returned Thursday, and it wasn’t clear where that program stood.
Seaton faces a misdemeanor charge in Lake County on three vehicles she registered in Michigan when Indiana law requires registration in state.
A pretrial conference is scheduled for Sept. 15 with the bench trial scheduled on Oct. 12.
Crown Point
Probation for business owner for touching boy
A former Crown Point businessman was placed on probation for 18 months for sexual misconduct with a minor involving a 14-year-old boy.
Edwin Paul Kasper, 83, of 424 E. Joliet St., who is listed in court records as the owner of Livia’s World of Gifts, pleaded guilty in Lake Superior Court to the Class D felony on June 29.
Kasper admitted he kissed the boy on the back of the neck after giving him a backrub. At the time of the incident, Kasper owned Livia’s World of Gifts in the old Lake County Courthouse in Crown Point. The business has since closed.
Cedar Lake
Man strikes woman,
pepper-sprays cop
Charges are pending against a 23-year-old man who pepper-sprayed an off-duty Lake County Sheriff’s officer attempting to subdue him after the officer saw the man striking a woman.
Marc Earl Odea Jr., 23, is facing felony charges of resisting law enforcement with bodily injury and battery on a law enforcement officer with bodily injury, for his role in the incident that occurred at about 11:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Lake County Sheriff’s Officer Roger Banton was standing in line at Dairy Queen on East Lake Shore Drive and observed Odea arguing with a woman. The pair then ran across the street. Banton said he went to his civilian vehicle to follow the pair and call the incident in for a uniformed officer to respond when he heard other patrons shouting at Odea, who appeared to have struck the woman and who was making threatening remarks.
Banton said he followed Odea, identified himself as a police officer and asked Odea to talk to him. Odea fled. Following a short foot pursuit Banton caught up with Odea, who then sprayed the off-duty officer in the face with pepper spray.
When Cedar Lake police arrived, witnesses confirmed what occurred. The woman who was struck has not been found.
Griffith
Man charged in third area Walgreens robbery
A Gary man charged in Lake Superior court with two robberies at Gary Walgreens stores has been charged in a June 9 robbery of a Griffith Walgreens.
Damond Tate, 22, admitted in a statement to police that on June 9 he robbed the Walgreens at Ridge Road and Colfax Street by walking around the counter and unplugging the cash drawer after an employee had walked away.
Tate had a gun, but had used a broken knife handle in his pocket to make the employee believe he was holding a real gun before he left with the cash drawer.
The employee said Tate told her to “unplug that thing,” and she said she didn’t know how to and started to walk away when Tate showed her what appeared to be a handgun.
Tate was charged Wednesday in an April 9 robbery at the Walgreens at 3801 W. 5th Ave., and the May 10 robbery of the store at 801 S. Lake St., in Gary.
Schererville
Child molester gets
30 years, will appeal
A Schererville man who admitted he molested a 10-year-old girl was sentenced Thursday in Lake Superior Court to 30 years in prison.
Shanti Neishte Peshewa, 29, admitted he molested the girl between Sept. 1 and Dec. 4 at a home in Schererville. During the sexual assaults, Peshewa admitted in court that he would tell the girl he was trying to teach her about sex so she would not experiment with boys her age.
The girl’s mother read exerpts of a letter from her daughter that said Peshewa destroyed her life, but she felt victorious over him despite the crimes he committed against her. “I hope that you suffer,” the girl said in her letter.
Peshewa pleaded guilty to child molesting, a Class A felony punishable by a maximum 50-year sentence. The plea agreement spelled out the 30-year term.
Peshewa said he plans to appeal.
Hammond
Fondling charge will get man two years in prison
Lake Superior Court Judge Diane Ross Boswell sentenced a Hammond man to four years for sexual misconduct with a minor.
Facundo Callejas, 50, was ordered to serve two years in prison, followed by two years on probation, after he admitted he fondled the girl’s thigh between May 2008 and November 2009.
Callejas had faced a maximum 20-year sentence on the original sexual misconduct with a minor charge. He pleaded guilty to a Class C felony, punishable by a maximum eight-year sentence.
