Porter County Courts
October 19, 2012 5:40PM
PORTER COUNTY
Car crash leads to charge of fraud
A Merrillville man has been charged with two felonies and a misdemeanor for allegedly crashing his car into a guard rail and NIPSCO pole so his insurance would pay it off when he couldn’t.
And Travis B. Wilson, 23, had a friend videotape both of the Feb. 11 attempts, court records state.
On Tuesday, the Porter County Prosecutor filed Class C felony insurance fraud, Class D felony criminal mischief and Class a misdemeanor false informing charges, and Wilson faces up to eight years in prison on the highest, the C felony.
The friend went to police and showed them the videos, telling them he felt guilty and Wilson was bragging about it hitting the Old Porter Road guardrail and County Road 1400N pole and blaming it on avoiding a deer.
Court records state that if wires hadn’t suspended the snapped pole, it would’ve crushed the car.
Allstate Insurance paid $7,887 towards the car and $5,204 towards the NIPSCO pole for Wilson’s mischief.
Wilson wasn’t in Porter County Jail on Friday, but bail bond is set at $3,500.
Man picking up pot package charged
A Crown Point man faces up to three years in prison for signing for an 8.6 pound package of marijuana at his girlfriend’s Porter County address.
Kelvin Maurice Hines, 33, is charged with Class D felony possession of marijuana for the Oct. 10 delivery of the box from California to a Mary Johnson, although no one with that name lived there.
A U.S. Postal Service Inspector told Drug Enforcement Administration agents that six prior packages were delivered there, and police found one during a search after the girlfriend returned home and gave consent.
They also found a .50 caliber Desert Eagle handgun that the girlfriend didn’t recognize.
Hines wasn’t in Porter County Jail on Friday.
Multiple air fresheners tip off police
Driving almost eight pounds of cocaine through Northwest Indiana got an Aurora, Ill., man a six-year prison sentence on Friday.
Jose Nunez-Alvarado, 44, had pleaded to Class B felony dealing in cocaine on Sept. 25, down from Class A felony dealing in cocaine, which carries a sentence of up to 50 years.
Police had pulled Nunez-Alvarado over on Interstate 94 in October 2011 because he was doing 74 mph in a 70 mph zone, then switched lanes and slowed down after passing police and following too closely.
Nunez-Alvarado, who used an interpreter through his court appearances, has been in the United States 30 years but isn’t a citizen.
Police were suspicious of the number of pine tree-shaped air fresheners in the vehicle and found one brick of the 3,600 grams of cocaine in the trunk.
They also found another under the carpet near the passenger’s door, and a canine officer found a third in the car’s air filter.
