Theft suspect knows where he is now -- back in jail

Tuesday, August 30, 2016
Dustin Chiodo

An initial court appearance evolved into a geography lesson for a 35-year-old Pennsylvania man facing four felony charges.

Appearing in Putnam Superior Court on charges that could send him to prison for more than 14 years if he were convicted on all counts, Dustin C. Chiodo, of Beaver Falls, Pa., initially claimed not to understand the charging information before him in the case.

Judge Denny Bridges tried to explain how those charges allege Chiodo and another man, Neil Young Cunning, 30, of Mercer, Pa., broke into a Woodland Heights home in Greencastle on June 20, stealing checks, coins, cash and a safe before reportedly cashing one of the stolen checks at the Brazil Walmart.

That same night, after supposedly being observed acting suspiciously at a Terre Haute jewelry store, they led police on a Vigo County pursuit in which the driver, Cunning, eluded capture after letting Chiodo out of the vehicle.

Judge Bridges asked if Chiodo understood those charges now.

But the defendant claimed he couldn't even comprehend his current surrondings.

"I don't even know where this town is, sir," he responded to Judge Bridges.

That's when the judge became an impromptu geography teacher.

Using the air above his bench as a blackboard and his finger as faux chalk, Bridges pointed straight up and drew a square in the air before asking Chiodo, "You know where Purdue University is, right? It's up here at Lafayette.

"And Indiana University," Bridges continued, "that's down here at Bloomington," he said moving his finger down and pointing out a spot straight down but well below his Lafayette space.

"Indiana State?" a confused Chiodo questioned as the conversation began to take on a hint of the old Abbott and Costello "Who's on First?" routine.

"No, that's over here at Terre Haute," Bridges corrected, pointing to his left midway between the other invisible points. "And Indianapolis -- you've heard of that -- that's over here," he add, pointing to his right.

Drawing intersecting lines in the air both horizontally and vertically, Bridges told the Pennsylvanian, "When you connect all four of those dots, that's where we are sitting. Right here in the middle of nowhere basically."

Courtroom snickers followed but the judge didn't miss a beat in detailing how a no-trespassing order was in place against Chiodo relative the local theft victims.

"You're looking at 14-and-a-half years," Judge Bridges told him after adding up the presumptive sentences the defendant faces.

Chiodo is facing two counts of burglary, a Level 4 felony with a sentencing range of 2-12 years in prison, and two counts of theft, a Level 6 felony carrying a possible sentence of 6-30 months, for the June 20 incident that occurred sometime between 11:15 a.m. and 2:15 p.m.

Chiodo was arrested on a Putnam County warrant at 2:35 a.m. last Wednesday, Aug. 24. He is being held at the Putnam County Jail on $40,000 cash bond after a not-guilty plea to all charges was entered on his behalf.

Meanwhile, Cunning, true to his name, eluded police in Indiana back in June but was arrested in Pennsylvania few days later on local charges and a Pennsylvania Parole hold. He reportedly has a 28-page criminal record in his home state, mostly charges of theft and burglary.

Cunning has yet to make a Putnam Superior Court appearance.

The two men apparently have no ties to Indiana and were traveling together when they allegedly broke into the Greencastle home.

Two bits of evidence from there proved significant to the investigation that pinpointed the suspects -- a trail of blood left behind after Cunning reportedly cut his arm while breaking out a garage window to gain access to the residence, and a distinctive Smartfood White Cheddar Popcorn bag the owners had used to line a master bedroom trash can.

That bag later showed up in Walmart surveillance video as Chiodo allegedly used it to carry in some $70 in coins into the store to dump them into a coin-counting machine to convert into cash.

A pretrial conference in the case was set for Chiodo at 8:30 a.m. Oct. 14.

Respond to this story

Posting a comment requires free registration: