Pretrial set for Sage

GREENCASTLE -- A July pretrial conference date has been set for a man accused of being involved in at least nine Putnam County home burglaries.

Brock M. Sage, 21, of Cloverdale was arrested on March 30 and formally charged on April 15 with Class B felony burglary, Class D felony theft and Class B misdemeanor harassment. His bond was set at $50,000 cash, and his initial hearing was originally scheduled for May 13.

On May 3, Putnam County Circuit Court Judge Matthew Headley recused himself from the case and appointed Hendricks County Superior Court Judge Stephanie LeMay-Luken as special judge.

If convicted on all charges, Sage could face more than 20 years in prison.

Sage was arrested at the culmination of a joint investigation by officers and investigators from the Greencastle Police Department and the Putnam County Sheriff's Department The burglaries Sage is accused of committing began in early December 2009 and continued until Sage's arrest.

One of the alleged victim's homes was burglarized three times, court records said. That same victim told police that before she became aware of the third burglary, she was on her way home from work when she received an anonymous call on her cell phone that had been sexual in nature. She hung up, and when she arrived at her home she found it had been burglarized again.

Through cell phone records, police were able to trace the phone and general location from which the harassing call was made. Police found Sage driving a 2000 Lincoln, and when they stopped him they discovered the traced cell phone -- which turned out to be stolen -- in his vehicle.

Authorities then obtained a search warrant for Sage's vehicle, and recovered several items from not only the reported burglary, but also from two Greencastle burglaries that had yet to be reported.

Several victims had been burglarized more than once, and some had suffered sexually harassing phone calls from the suspect. They had also received text messages and explicit photographs.

Items recovered during the search of Sage's vehicle included jewelry, electronics, Wii games and articles of personal clothing. Investigators also discovered a bag that contained a set of bolt cutters, a ski mask, a flashlight, and a bandana.

Also located in Sage's vehicle was an opened package of latex gloves.

When he was interviewed, Sage implicated himself in nine burglaries, court records said. He also admitted to making harassing phone calls to some of his victims and their friends.

Sage hired Greencastle attorney Darrell Felling as his counsel. He has been in jail since his arrest.