Man charged in burglary

Saturday, February 12, 2011

GREENCASTLE -- A Greencastle man has been formally charged in connection with a January burglary on the DePauw University campus.

Mark A. Poynter, 29, is charged with two counts of Class C felony burglary and two counts of Class D felony theft. He has entered preliminary not guilty pleas to all charges, and has informed the court that he will hire his own counsel.

Putnam County Circuit Court Judge Matthew Headley has set Poynter's bond at $20,000 cash. Poynter remains in the Putnam County Jail, and is set to appear in court on March 24 for a pretrial conference.

According to a probable cause affidavit prepared by Matt Demmings of the DePauw Public Safety Department, authorities were notified on Jan. 4 that several items had been stolen from the grounds building at DePauw's Facilities Management Office.

The articles reported stolen included three backpack leaf blowers, a concrete saw and three chainsaws. There was no sign of forcible entry, police reports said.

An eyewitness told police she had seen a man who she believed to be a former employee back his car up to the Facilities Management Building on Jan. 4, and that she believed he had put the stolen items in the car.

"(Assistant director of Facilities Management at DePauw) Rob Harper said he believed that the person seen by (the witness) was a former employee, Mark Poynter, who was employed by the facilities team during the summer months when they needed extra help," Demmings' report said.

The witness later told police she also believed the person she had seen taking the items was Poynter.

On Jan. 7, Demmings secured search warrants for Poynter's home and car. None of the stolen items were found in either place, police reports said.

On that same day, police questioned Poynter, who said he had not been at DePauw since October.

On Jan. 10, Harper reported to police that several copper planters -- 25 large ones worth $208.99 each and 46 small ones worth $82.99 each -- were missing from DePauw's Physical Plant Annex on West Walnut Street.

Upon investigation, it was learned that Poynter had sold 18 copper planters to Traction Auto Parts in Crawfordsville.

If convicted on all counts, Poynter could go to prison for up to 22 years.

Comments
View 6 comments
Note: The nature of the Internet makes it impractical for our staff to review every comment. Please note that those who post comments on this website may do so using a screen name, which may or may not reflect a website user's actual name. Readers should be careful not to assign comments to real people who may have names similar to screen names. Refrain from obscenity in your comments, and to keep discussions civil, don't say anything in a way your grandmother would be ashamed to read.
  • I guess i dont see a crime here.. except for the planters which could have came from anywhere. It says he stole these items but they cant prove he had possession of them. Isnt the legal system funny.

    -- Posted by Oh My Goodness on Sat, Feb 12, 2011, at 9:13 AM
  • Although the Banner does offer a considerable amount of infomation, I'm certain there are more specifics to this case.

    Demmings is a very thorough investigator. The arrest would't have been made without dotting all the i's & crossing all the t's before arresting Poynter.

    -- Posted by ProblemTransmission on Sat, Feb 12, 2011, at 9:55 AM
  • I wonder, does this person have any priors?

    -- Posted by interestedperson on Sat, Feb 12, 2011, at 12:12 PM
  • I know he has some previous meth possession priors. Used to work with the guy and recall him being arrested for possession of methamphetamine in clay county.

    -- Posted by KeyboardWarrior on Sat, Feb 12, 2011, at 3:02 PM
  • Priors? Sure he has priors, only the prosecutor at the time, who is now the judge hearing the case, took a pass and would not prosecute him and his partner for a home burglary. The prosecutor at the time gave the excuse he didn't think he could win the case.

    -- Posted by exhoosier2 on Mon, Feb 14, 2011, at 8:23 AM
  • "Oh My Goodness", you comment on almost every story BG posts, and I'm beginning to think you have a mental handicap (apologies to all mentally handicapped people, for grouping you with this moron.) The article clearly states that Poynter sold the planters. I'm going to bet that he left fingerprints behind as well, or that he has more of them stashed away somewhere, or that other witnesses will come forward saying he sold them planters too.

    -- Posted by Clovertucky on Tue, Feb 15, 2011, at 9:28 AM
Respond to this story

Posting a comment requires free registration: