New charged with felony burglary

Thursday, January 22, 2009

A Greencastle man has been formally charged with Class B felony burglary and two counts of Class D felony theft in connection with a Jan. 15 incident at a Greencastle residence.

Maxwell T. New, 20, entered a preliminary not guilty plea in Putnam County Circuit Court to the charges. He remains in the Putnam County Jail in lieu of a $30,000 cash only bond, and is set for a pretrial conference on Feb. 26.

According to court documents, New is accused of stealing electronics from an apartment on West Larabee Street.

Witnesses told officials New was trying to sell the stolen items on the night of the thefts. Police went to New's residence, and New gave them verbal permission to search his apartment, court documents said. Police found a television set bearing a serial number that matched the one the victim had given him from one of the stolen items, as well as the pocket PC matching the description of another stolen item.

While they were searching New's apartment, officers also discovered an Xbox 360 gaming console and a video game that matched descriptions of items that had been reported stolen in late December from a Vine Street residence, court documents said.

New told officers he was "holding the television and pocket PC for a friend," court documents said. New said his friend had told him the items were "hot."

Police asked New why the television was hooked up, but said he could offer no explanation. The pocket PC already had New's name, address and phone number entered into it, but had the victim's photo on it.

According to court documents, photos of New's shoes "appeared to be a match to footprints leading from the backdoor of the residence on Larabee Street" to New's residence.

New admitted he had walked to the victim's residence, but said he had only done so to "see if they were home."

A Class B felony is punishable by up to 20 years in prison, while Class D felonies carry a maximum sentence of three years.

New also has charges of Class A misdemeanor possession of marijuana and Class C misdemeanor illegal consumption of alcohol pending against him in Putnam County Superior Court.

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  • Well,since he suffered by walking to the victoms home to steal from them in the horribly cold temps and Does have friends to speak on his behalf,the local judicial system will consider options.Say,a plea? Confess,give sad story about cold temps on those footprints and pooof,suspended sentence,no ankle bracelet and sweep a sidewalk off on 2 satardays. Oh, and no probation..

    -- Posted by honestyisbestpolicy on Thu, Jan 22, 2009, at 8:19 AM
  • I'm not saying he did or did not commit this crime. I DO know that Max knew the people that lived there, actually they were very good friends. So the fact that he went there to see if they were home is not out of the norm. The story is not truthful in saying that the footprints led to his residence...they led to an apartment complex behind the victims home which led police to question residents which led them to max's home. The XBox Max bought from someone for $200, and the game that is claimed to be stolen from Vine Street in December needs to be retrieved because it is overdue at Family Video. Too little evidence, nothing else to report in the paper. These folks shouldn't be sacrificed for news worthy stories until they are actually convicted.

    -- Posted by townielove on Fri, Jan 23, 2009, at 1:37 AM
  • GOOD JOB GREENCASTLE POLICE DEPARTMENT AND OFFICER HUFFMAN. IT'S REALLY SAD WHEN SOMEONE STEALS, LET ALONE STEALING FROM FRIENDS. HOPE HE GETS THE FULL SENTENCE.

    -- Posted by Michele1953 on Sat, Jan 24, 2009, at 3:37 PM
  • With friends like him...who needs enemies???

    -- Posted by dzmwrr on Wed, Jan 28, 2009, at 4:12 PM
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