A Middletown man is accused of breaking into a jailed acquaintance's home and stealing an antique shotgun.
NEW CASTLE, Ind. – A Middletown man is accused of breaking into a jailed acquaintance's Henry County home and stealing an antique shotgun.
Douglas M. Hogan, 24, was charged Thursday in Henry Circuit Court 2 with burglary, theft of a firearm, unlawful possession of a syringe and criminal trespass.
According to documents, a Middletown police officer on Feb. 3 investigated a report of a man walking through town with a gun, and found Hogan carrying a case that contained an antique shotgun, believed to have been manufactured in the late 19th century.
Hogan claimed he had been given the gun five years earlier by a since-deceased friend, and now hoped to sell it for $100. He agreed to let the officer keep the firearm pending an investigation.
On Wednesday, the officer received a report of a suspicious person at a house along Henry County Road 600-W whose occupant is being held in the Henry County jail, awaiting trial on charges that include domestic battery and criminal recklessness.
Hogan was found on the home's front porch, and tried to persuade the officer he was there to collect some belongings he had left there.
Hogan also allegedly acknowledged the antique shotgun had been taken from the house, although he insisted other people, who he declined to identify, had removed it and gave it to him.
interviewed in the jail, the house's occupant confirmed the gun was his and had been in his residence. He said he had never given Hogan permission to enter his home, and considered the Middletown man a "thief and did not trust him," the officer wrote.
The burglary charge filed by Prosecutor Joe Bergacs' office is a Level 4 felony carrying up to 12 years in prison.
Hogan – now being held in the same jail with his alleged victim, under a $20,000 surety bond and $2,200 cash bond – received a June 24 trial date.