Man charged in burglary
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.