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Cloverdale man facing seven counts in thefts from vehicles
By ERIC BERNSEE
Editor
A 48-year-old rural Cloverdale man who apparently did some last-minute holiday shopping with stolen cash and credit cards ended up spending a not-so-merry Christmas behind bars.
Brett Kent Kemper, who was arrested at his residence outside Cloverdale at 1 p.m. Monday, is facing seven charges in connection with the theft of purses and wallets containing cash and credit cards from three unattended vehicles in Greencastle on Dec.19.
Kemper faces three charges of unlawful entry of a vehicle, three charges of theft and one count of fraud as a result of the alleged incidents.
He was lodged in the Putnam County Jail after a side trip to the Putnam County Hospital Emergency Room when he began to feel ill and collapsed Monday while in the custody of Greencastle City Police Officers Ed Wilson and Darrel Bunten.
Authorities allege Kemper took purses or wallets from two vehicles left unattended at Soapy Joe's as their owners went to get change to operate the car wash, along with a third vehicle that was entered as it was parked at the First Baptist Church parking lot off Judson Drive.
The two car wash incidents occurred between 3 and 3:30 p.m. on Dec. 19, while the church lot theft took place between 11:15 and 11:45 a.m. the same day.
Kemper allegedly used the stolen cash and credit cards to make a variety of purchases on both Dec. 19 and 20 at the Greencastle Walmart store.
He later reportedly tried to use one of the stolen credit cards at Kroger to purchase two cartons of cigarettes and one roasted chicken but the card was denied. That precipitated the fraud charge.
The suspect reportedly got $300 in cash from one purchase and scored a $1,000 cash find in another as that victim was still carrying the proceeds from a recent car sale and had planned to deposit the money at the bank after washing her car at Soapy Joe's.
In addition to the purses, wallets, cash and credit cards, Kemper also reportedly took a white iPod 4 that was plugged into the stereo of a truck that was left momentarily unattended at the car wash.
In making the arrest, GPD Officers Wilson and Bunten were assisted by Indiana State Police Trooper Cory Robinson, Putnam and Owen county sheriff's deputies and Indiana Conservation Officers.
Conservation Officers on the scene reportedly seized items that appeared to be feathers and talons from a redtail hawk, a protected species, for further investigation and possible additional charges against Kemper.
When authorities served the warrant at the Kemper residence near Jordan Village, they also confiscated such items as a TV, cellphone, Straight Talk phone cards, a camera, Black & Decker coffee maker, boots, several toys in unopened packages, a new Eureka vacuum cleaner and two cartons of cigarettes (Newport and Tourney).
Several of the items were still in their packaging or the boxes they came in were left strewn about the living quarters.
Also recovered at the scene were bottles of Hempz body moisturizer and Mood tanning bronzer that one victim listed as being in her stolen purse, along with a set of keys found in the trash at the Kemper residence.
Police also uncovered a handwritten list detailing two separate phones reportedly bought with stolen credit cards. The note, apparently written prior to posting the phones and phone cards for sale on Craig's List or eBay, details each phone along with a card, its value and an asking price.
The note, dated Dec. 20, describes the cell phones as being "bought for individuals who won't be home for Christmas," adding that the sellers needed money "to pay bills."
Meanwhile, recovered by police from the suspect's green 1996 Mercury Sable, which can be seen on surveillance video at both Walmart and Kroger, were a Blu-ray home theater system, still in the box from Walmart, and the suspect's wallet with identification and documents.
Kemper was expected to make an initial appearance in court on Friday.