Menu
Poland man jailed for nine Friday evening crimes
A Poland man is facing a long list of charges following a series of Friday evening events on the South Side of Greencastle.
Randall Lee McDougall, 30, is lodged in the Putnam County Jail on nine charges, including two Class D felonies, following a series of vehicle break-ins and his subsequent run-in with the Greencastle Police Department.
The investigation began when GPD officer Nick Eastham was dispatched to Pizza King on Bloomington Street at 6:12 p.m.
A witness said a shirtless male had been trying to get into vehicles in the restaurant parking lot.
The witness directed Eastham to the Maple Terrace apartments, where the witness had seen the suspect take a tan coat and a CB radio from a mini van. The suspect then entered an apartment.
When Eastham approached the apartment, McDougall met him in the entryway. A female also exited the apartment, and the officer advised both he was there investigating the unauthorized entry of a vehicle by a man who matched McDougall's description.
McDougall denied any wrongdoing, but when Eastham said what had been taken, the female re-entered the apartment and produced the coat and radio.
When Eastham asked McDougall for identification, he said he had none but that his name was Michael McDougall, born Sept. 15, 1985.
While awaiting an identification check from dispatch, Eastham asked McDougall if he had been drinking. He originally said he drank four beers, but when pressed further advised he had also consumed a fifth of whiskey and his normal prescription of Xanax.
"I then asked how long it had been since he drank the alcohol," Eastham wrote in his report, "and he advised me it had been three days."
After the identification check returned nothing, Eastham again asked the man for his name and date of birth. This time he said Michael L. McDougall, Sept. 12, 1983.
Asked to repeat the date of birth, McDougall said, "35-85-63."
McDougall finally gave Eastham the identification of Lee R. McDougall, born Sept. 12, 1983. Although near the truth, both the name and date were found to still be incorrect.
When Eastham told McDougall he was under arrest for false reporting, theft and unauthorized entry of a vehicle, the suspect took off running westbound.
The officer pursued the suspect and took him down on the north side of the apartments. After a short scuffle, Eastham got McDougall handcuffed and into the back of his squad car.
Before leaving, Eastham spoke to the female, who said the man's name was Lee McDougall and that she knew him, but not very well. He had simply shown up at her apartment being belligerent a few minutes before.
The woman said she was escorting McDougall out when Eastham arrived.
On the short ride to the Putnam County Jail, McDougall continued to struggle. He managed to get the handcuffs in front of him and tried to open the back door.
Failing to open the door, he tried to roll down the window. Eastham had to hold the window button on the front door down to keep McDougall from rolling it down.
Upon arrival at the jail, Eastham got McDougall out of the car, when he again broke away and tried to run out the doors of the sally port, the drive-in area the jail uses for the transfer of prisoners.
As McDougall reached the overhead door of the sally port, he was met by jail officer Shawn Diebold, who knocked him to the ground.
During book-in, Diebold found four pills identified as Paxil in his front pocket.
While Eastham was completing paperwork on the case, he received a call advising a man had earlier caught McDougall taking things from his van.
The caller had been visiting a friend near Pizza King when he found McDougall in side his vehicle going through his possessions.
When confronted, McDougall reportedly became aggressive, punching him in the face several times with brass knuckles.
The victim eventually gained the upper hand and found the things McDougall had taken in a nearby yard. The stolen items included tools, a large bag of rocks and arrowheads, several CDs, a lunch box, a green Carhartt jacket, a wallet, keys, the vehicle registration and the owner's manual.
He had also taken the brass knuckles from McDougall and later turned them over to police.
Further investigation revealed the coat and CB had been taken from a resident of Maple Avenue. Eastham contacted the man, who correctly identified the items taken from the vehicle. The officer returned the two items.
McDougall was booked into the Putnam County Jail at 7:20 p.m. He faces two felony charges of theft, as well as seven misdemeanors.
The other charges include two counts of unauthorized entry of a motor vehicle, false informing, resisting law enforcement, battery with a weapon, escape and possession of a controlled substance.