Roachdale man arrested following road rage incident

Thursday, August 2, 2012

A 49-year-old Roachdale man was arrested Tuesday following a reported road rage incident Monday involving a local teenager.

Franklin Lee Haas was arrested on charges of battery resulting in bodily injury, strangulation, criminal mischief and aggressive driving.

At 6:09 p.m. Monday, Deputy Kyle Gibbons was dispatched to North Putnam High School to speak to the alleged victim, a Roachdale teenager, concernng an incident that had occurred on CR 1000 North near County Road 375 West.

The incident was described by Putnam County Dispatch as road rage that resulted in battery and possible strangulation. Involved was a white Ford Mustang with dark-colored racing stripes and the word "Boss" on the left front fender.

The vehicle depiction matched the description of a car owned and operated by Hass.

"I arrived at North Putnam to find the subject in a sensitive state. He was sobbing and was still visibly shaken form the incident," Deputy Gibbons stated in the probable cause affidavit. "I asked the subject if he believed his injuries required medical attention and he said 'no.'"

The alleged victim informed Gibbons that while driving on County Road 1000 North a white Ford Mustang erratically passed him on the roadway and then abruptly stopped in front of his vehicle.

The victim came to a complete stop, believing the Mustang to be an unmarked police vehicle.

The driver of the Mustang then opened his door and walked toward the vehicle. It was then that the teen gave a description of the driver, which was later confirmed with a recent photograph of Hass.

In a voluntary statement, the victim said the driver reached inside his driver's side window and immediately demanded he hand over his phone. When the teen refused, Haas reached into the vehicle and took the phone.

As the victim attempted to prevent Haas from taking the phone, the victim suffered multiple cuts to his hands.

However, after obtaining the phone, Haas removed the protective case and attempted to destroy it, causing visible damage to the phone itself, police said.

Haas failed to destroy the phone and gave it back to the victim, demanding that the phone battery be removed. When the teen declined, Haas reached into the vehicle and violently grabbed the teen by the throat and began to choke him.

"It wasn't until the victim was able to 'shove' Mr. Haas' hands away from his neck that Mr. Haas returned to his vehicle," said Gibbons in the probable cause affidavit. "Mr. Haas then drove up beside the victim's vehicle and threatened him, stating, 'I know where you live, you'd better not cross me again.'"

Gibbons spoke to the teen's father on school grounds and informed him that they would be notified of the apprehension of Haas. The boy's father declined medical attention in regard to his son.

Deputies were unable to locate Haas at his residence following the incident on July 30. However, on July 31 at approximately 4 p.m., Putnam County Sheriff's Deputy Danny Wallace located Haas walking down CR 375 West, just south of CR 1100 North.

Haas was placed under arrest and transported to Putnam County Jail.

Haas later refused to complete a voluntary statement, but advised Gibbons in the jail booking area that he did indeed cut off the teen on CR 1000 North near CR 375 West.

Haas refused to state any further details until he had the opportunity to speak to an attorney.

"Mr. Haas was verbally abusive to myself and the Putnam County Jail staff at the time of booking," Gibbons added, "refusing to answer even the basic of required booking questions."

Haas was found carrying a knife in his pocket at the time of incident. He also reportedly threatened officers during booking.

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  • What's this world coming to! It seems People do anything they want and it's deplorable! There is little respect for others nowadays.

    -- Posted by NewDay13 on Thu, Aug 2, 2012, at 12:44 PM
  • I'm so sorry that one of our teens had to deal with this crap! I don't know who that teen is, but he and his family have my prayers.

    -- Posted by just1me on Thu, Aug 2, 2012, at 3:26 PM
  • Typical scum,every county has them......

    -- Posted by kubotafan on Thu, Aug 2, 2012, at 5:12 PM
  • This same vehicle almost ran us off the road into a culvert (we had to come to a complete stop - he was in our lane) about 5:20pm the same day - then he flipped us off.

    -- Posted by johnnie on Thu, Aug 2, 2012, at 6:46 PM
  • Frank Haas is our neighbor. He is mentally ill and stopped taking his medication a few weeks ago. He has been acting out, verbally abusing me, loud music, shouting, driving his mower up and down US 231. He broke some signs I had on CR 1000 (protesting woodlands being destroyed for corn). Unfortunately he could not be arrested until he hurt someone! I am sorry for the young man, but it does not speak well for our community that no help is/or is available. He is responsible for the harm that he has done, but he also needs help and commpassion. He is not "skum" any more than you or me. Marian Harvey

    -- Posted by harveymarian@yahoo.com on Fri, Aug 3, 2012, at 8:49 AM
  • My husband got questioned about this incident because we have a white mustang with blue stripes. Someone told the town marshall it was our car. People need to get their facts straight before they start accusing people of something they didn' do.My husband would never do anything stupid like that.

    -- Posted by birdee53 on Fri, Aug 3, 2012, at 11:06 AM
  • Whatever you think,Mrs.Harvey.......how about asking the family he had the run in with for their opinion......

    -- Posted by kubotafan on Fri, Aug 3, 2012, at 5:26 PM
  • This is a shame. I am humiliated and disgusted that the situation escalated to this.

    Frank Haas is my father, although I have hardly any relationship with him. He has stopped taking his medication or had an "episode" several times since I've been around and this has been one of the worst ones. It never should have gotten this far, but due to some of the law enforcement agencies being completely ignorant he got to roam our streets for weeks after we saw the first signs.

    He is a manic depressive bipolar and a paranoid schizophrenic. Like I said earlier, this has happened in the past. The last one was in the Fall of 2006 and the one before that was in 1997 or so. I have so stories of things he's done in the past similar to this. Despite this pattern, several weeks ago when he punched his neighbor in the face, a putnam county sheriff advised the neighbor to not press charges because it would only make the situation worse.

    The problem my sister, my grandmother and I have had in trying to get him help is that, unless a judge orders it, it is impossible to have someone committed for an evaluation or to require someone to take medication is if you have a power of attorney or if you're married to them.

    If the officers that responded the assault on the neighbor would have done the right thing and pressed charges(or the neighbors themselves), this situation could have been entirely avoided. He would have been in jail, I would have spoken to the judge weeks ago, and the judge could have set up a psych eval and medication. Then, we could just let him out and wait until the next time he stops taking it.

    I am so sorry to the family that is affected. I have been trying to figure out who it was so I can buy the young man a new phone and apologize for this. I don't want people to see my last name and think that I am like him.

    Moving forward with this situation, I intend to ask the judge and prosecutor for a long term solution. Usually, he'll get the charges dropped because of mental insanity, spend 6 months on probation where he takes his medication in front of a PO and then after that he's free to stop taking it. I am going to beg the judge and prosecutor to come up with something better than that. This has made my life very stressful and has affected me in many ways. I can handle it, but I can't handle other people being in danger when he's like this.

    -- Posted by chaas013 on Sat, Aug 4, 2012, at 10:59 AM
  • Can a family member still have another family member commited for long term mental health help? I'm sure it's still possible,chass013,definitely would help you thru life.

    -- Posted by kubotafan on Sun, Aug 5, 2012, at 11:15 AM
  • I am the mother of Franklin Haas, and I love him just as any mother loves their child.Don't you think if there was a way to help stop this problem I would have? You people have no clue the worry and stress and heartache I have been through.

    The solution, catch them breaking the law, then arrest them put them in jail.Make a criminal out of them.Where they do not get help and proper medication.When they are a problem there they put them in the hole for 23hrs a day.

    The arrest causes a multitued of problems atty. fees,fines to pay is a hugh burden .

    I commend Ms.Harvey's kinds words,It brought tears to my eyes when I read it .Neighbors understand,and many have said they want to help anyway they can, thank you so much.

    It is heartbreaking to know what he is going through.I can not bond him out or it will start allover again. WHERE is the help??

    when did we lose sight of compassion for humans? We take better care sick animals than people.

    Bernadine Mohler

    -- Posted by bernadine mohler on Wed, Aug 8, 2012, at 12:17 AM
  • Hi, to my knowledge Franklin has never been a schzophrenic. I'm the one who spoke with the Doctor.He is Bi-Polar.He is a nice guy, helpful to anyone who needs help.He helps his neighbors when they need a hand.Now isn't that what we should do ?The person you all read about is nothing like the Son I know he always ready to give a hug and tell me he loves me.

    Bernie Mohler

    -- Posted by bernadine mohler on Wed, Aug 8, 2012, at 7:54 AM
  • I'm Franks aunt,I have known him since birth.I know first hand the heartache my sister has been through.

    He has to break a law so the police can arrest him and then put him in jail.He does not get the proper medication .He then acts out and they put him in the hole for 23 hrs. a day.Out of sight out of mind, problem solved for jailers

    We pray that nothing trajic happens before the arrest. The law needs to be changed.

    this a chemical imbalance in the brain.

    There are some very famous people who suffer from this illness.Mike Walace from 60 minutes,Patty Duke.Margo Kidder to mention a few. They are very intellgent and so is her son.

    You all should get Patty Duke's book and read about her strugles with this. It would be an eye opener for sure.

    So be sure that you know what you are saying before making judgemental statements.

    Unless you have walked a mile in family members shoes, you need to show some compassion.

    But for the Grace of God, There go I.

    Ann Hoffman Dubois County Indiana

    -- Posted by ann hoffman on Wed, Aug 8, 2012, at 6:14 PM
  • When I read the article, I aslo thought "What a jerk!" Thank you for informing me and others that are quick to judge that this behavior is not normal, but the result of this mans mental conditions. I feel bad for the young teen, his family and also the family of Mr. Haas. I hope this time around you can get the courts to realize that he needs help.

    -- Posted by thatslife on Fri, Aug 10, 2012, at 9:19 PM
  • To thats life: Thank you so much for responding to my comments.I spent many sleepless nights wondering when the other shoe would drop. praying noone would get hurt,I'm very sorry for this young man.He did not deserve what happend to him.

    Legal intervention would help stop this before it gets to this problem.

    The difference between the famous people and Frank is, they had the means to get the help they needed.Ms.Dukes story is amazing.She went through months of disasterous situations. It is a book that shows it could happen to you or me.

    -- Posted by bernadine mohler on Sat, Aug 11, 2012, at 11:50 AM
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