Trial set for alleged carjacker
GREENCASTLE -- A trial date has been set for a Spencer man accused of committing a carjacking in Cloverdale on Aug. 7.
Brandon Elwood, 24, will go before a jury on Dec. 29. His final pretrial conference is set for Dec. 9, and any plea agreements in the case must be filed by that date.
Elwood has been in jail since his arrest on Aug. 9. He is charged with Class B felony carjacking, Class D felonies resisting law enforcement, battery by bodily waste, auto theft and theft, Class A misdemeanor operating a vehicle with at least .15 grams of alcohol in .210 liters of breath, Class B misdemeanor criminal mischief and Class C misdemeanor operating while intoxicated.
If convicted on all charges Elwood could be sentenced to more than 30 years in prison.
At an initial hearing on Aug. 9 Elwood pled not guilty to all charges. Judge Matthew Headley set Elwood's bond at $40,000 cash only.
Elwood was in court Aug. 26, asking for a bond reduction. Elwood's court-appointed attorney Joel Wieneke said his client was needed at home to assist his wife with the couple's two children.
Elwood also said he had a job waiting for him if he were to be released from jail.
Headley denied the request on Sept. 7.
Court records said police were dispatched to the area of the Stardust Hills subdivision to check on a report of criminal mischief after Putnam County Dispatch received a call about a vehicle that had struck several mailboxes.
Witnesses gave a description of the man who was driving that car, a silver Lincoln, and added he had also been beating on the door of a home in the subdivision. Shortly after, a call came in saying a carjacking had occurred on Burma Road.
The alleged victim of the carjacking said he had seen a silver Lincoln in the ditch on C.R. 100E, and that when he stopped to help the driver of the Lincoln had grabbed the alleged victim's cell phone, punched him in the testicles and took off with his car.
The description the alleged carjacking victim gave of his assailant matched the description witnesses had given of the man who had struck the mailboxes in Stardust Hills, court records said.
As officers were taking information from the alleged carjacking victim, dispatch advised they had received a phone call from the Cloverdale Marathon station advising a man wearing shorts, no shirt and who was "covered in tattoos was at the station acting odd."
The attendant at the station also said the man was driving a red Nissan, which matched the description of the alleged carjacking victim's vehicle and that he had left traveling westbound.
An officer spotted the vehicle and attempted to stop it on U.S. 231. Officers pursued the vehicle, which ended up crashing near the intersection of U.S. 231 and Stardust Road.
"The driver fled on foot and was tazed and taken into custody," court records said.
The driver was determined to be Elwood.
Elwood's criminal history includes convictions for domestic battery and public intoxication. He had also faced charges of resisting arrest and illegal consumption of alcohol by a minor.