Lake County Law and Order

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Updated: January 14, 2012 7:05PM

East Chicago

Work release for man had pot in car

Lake Superior Court Judge Thomas Stefaniak Jr., sentenced an East Chicago man to 18 months for possession of marijuana and misdemeanor resisting law enforcement.

Dwight Culver, 19, asked Lake Superior Court Judge Thomas Stefaniak Jr., to give him probation, saying it was “his first time” in court. “It’s not your first time,” Stefaniak said, noting Culver’s four prior juvenile adjudications. Culver will serve 12 months in the Lake County Community Corrections, starting in the Kimbrough Work Program.

Culver admitted he fled from police March 12 after running a stop sign in East Chicago and threw a bag of marijuana out the passenger window, then ran on foot toward the West Calumet Housing Project, where he hid in a Dumpster on Larkspur Street.

Deputy prosecutor Jeff Semko argued for the 18-month cap in the plea agreement, noting Culver had a disorderly conduct arrest five days after he was charged in the felony case.

Defense attorney Scott King said Culver deserves a chance to show whether he’s had a change of attitude and behavior.

GARY

Police looking for attempted robbery suspect

A man tried to rob a Family Dollar store at gunpoint in Miller on Thursday night.

Around 8:05 p.m., a man walked into the store, located at 4733 Melton Road. He was described as being in his late 20s or early 30s and between 6-foot and 6-foot-3, with a medium-to-heavy build.

The man displayed a black, semiautomatic handgun and demanded that the cashier open the cash drawer. She attempted to open the drawer, but she was unable to open it. He continued to wave the gun around, but he eventually gave up and fled east on foot.