Suspect back in jail after brief reprieve

Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Freedom proved fleeting for a 34-year-old Putnam County man this week.

Dane A. Archer, released from jail just five days earlier to enter outpatient addiction treatment, was arrested again Sunday night and now faces four charges relative to residential and vehicle entry.

Appearing for an initial hearing in the latest case Monday afternoon in Putnam Superior Court, Archer was formally charged with two Level 6 felonies, residential entry and attempted residential entry, as well as two Class B misdemeanors for unauthorized entry of a motor vehicle.

Dane Archer

If convicted on all four counts, Archer could be sentenced to as much as six years in jail.

The latest charges also triggered a petition to revoke bond in a previous case against the Greencastle man.

Superior Court Judge Denny Bridges entered preliminary pleas of not guilty for Archer, ordering him held on $10,000 cash bond.

On Jan. 19, Senior Judge Thomas Milligan had released Archer from Putnam County Jail custody to begin the Matrix Program -- an outpatient addiction treatment effort for alcohol and drug dependence -- after Archer entered a guilty plea to charges of resisting law enforcement and battery causing bodily injury in an April 2015 incident. Sentencing in that case is set for May 6.

He is also facing charges of possession of methamphetamine, unlawful possession of a syringe and possession of paraphernalia in an Oct. 13 case.

The latest case began to unfold about 10:30 p.m. Sunday when Greencastle City Police officers were sent to 304 N. Vine St. on the report of a suspicious person entering woman's car after initially coming to her door to urge she call the jail because he "was having a breakdown."

The suspect was described as wearing a black hoodie and having a shaved head with tattoos on his face and neck.

Archer has a tear drop tattoo below his right eye, brass knuckles stenciled about his left eye and another tattoo on his neck, Officer Kyle Lee noted in the probable cause affidavit filed in the case.

Police had received multiple calls over the weekend in reference to a suspicious male, Officer Lee noted.

"On each of the prior calls for a suspicious subject, Archer was located in the area," Lee added.

Less than 10 minutes after the first report, a second call came in from 315 N. Jackson St., where a suspect in a black hoodie with a tattoo under his eye had tried to enter a woman's apartment.

Moments later police dispatch received a third similar call. In that incident, a resident of 314 N. College Ave., said a male subject had run into her house and was hiding in the kitchen before he fled the premises. Again, he was described as wearing a black hoodie and having multiple tattoos.

A fourth 911 call soon followed from a woman at 1 W. Liberty St., who reported a male subject knocked on her door but ran off northbound before she could answer.

Responding to the area, Officer Lee parked his car and walked through the rear parking lot at 315 N. Jackson St., where he found Archer in the front passenger seat of a blue Dodge Durango.

After multiple commands for Archer to get out of the locked car, the suspect finally exited the vehicle and was taken to the ground and handcuffed by Lee and Sgt. Eric Vaughan.

The owner of the Durango later told police Archer had asked him for a ride the day before but the car owner told him no.

Archer, who is being represented by public defender Melinda Jackman-Hanlin, was taken back to Putnam County Jail to await a pre-trial conference set for 9:30 a.m. Feb. 10.

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