Merrillville man charged in Miller shooting
A Merrillville man has been charged in Lake Superior Court with assisting a criminal in connection with the June 24 homicide outside a bar in the Miller section of Gary.
Dakota A. Goldman, 27, is charged with assisting the unidentified shooter who police believe killed Jonathan Farries, 20, of Gary, and seriously wounded Courteau Givens, 27, also of Gary.
Investigators with the Lake County Regional Homicide Unit reviewed surveillance footage from Murphy’s House of Pain Saloon, 5245 E. Dunes Highway, Gary, according to court records.
The video shows Farries drove to the bar in a Chevrolet Trailblazer. Givens got out of the passenger side while Farries remained in the SUV.
The footage shows a black Cadillac Escalade driven by Goldman pulled into the parking lot and Goldman got out, according to court records. As Givens fought with another individual, the unidentified shooter got out of the Escalade and fired into the Trailblazer.
Givens got back in the Trailblazer and Farries pulled away, with a bar security guard also shooting at the Trailblazer. That vehicle crashed soon after leaving the scene.
After the shooting, the unidentified man and Goodman got back into the Escalade and left, the video shows. The video revealed that Goldman was 5 to 7 feet from the unidentified man when the shooting began, according to court records.
The charge is a Level 5 felony, which is punishable by one to six years.
Hammond man gets probation for stalking
A Hammond man who is in the country illegally was sentenced Wednesday by Lake Superior Court Judge Salvador Vasquez to 360 days on probation for stalking.
Daniel Guadarrama-Artega, 27, admitted he left notes for a woman between Jan. 10 and Feb. 10 at her residence in the 7600 block of Magnolia Avenue in Hammond. The notes were left inside her home and on her front door.
In court records, Guadarrama-Artega admitted that he put a lawn chair below one of the windows of the woman’s home to look inside and left her three notes inside the front door of her home, on the porch and on her car.
Defense attorney L. Felipe Sanchez said his client has no prior criminal history. As part of his probation, Guadarrama-Artega will undergo mental health counseling and have no contact with the victim. Sanchez said his client is married with three children and employed.
Deputy prosecutor Nadia Chivers said the victim was in agreement with the plea agreement.
A charge of residential entry, punishable by six months to 30 months, was dismissed.
Handgun violation draws 9 days in jail
A 21-year-old Hammond man with no prior criminal convictions was sentenced by Lake Superior Court Judge Salvador Vasquez to nine days in Lake County Jail for a misdemeanor handgun violation.
Jalin Tooray Williams pleaded guilty Wednesday to carrying a handgun without a license.
Hammond police were called on April 30, 2013, to the area of Martin Luther King Park to investigate a report of shots fired. Several people ran from the area, and police found Williams crouching behind a fence in the 900 block of Morris Street in Hammond. Police found a 7.65-caliber semi-automatic handgun with live rounds on top of a garbage can near where Williams was hiding. Williams told police he bought the gun from a person in East Chicago for $87 about one month earlier.
Responding to a question from the judge about why the plea agreement was a fair resolution, defense attorney John Cantrell said his client had been hit by a train near Whihala Beach and suffered severe injuries, including a broken pelvis, a reconstructed femur and a brain injury. He spent nine months in a Chicago rehabilitation facility to learn to walk and function again, Cantrell said.
EC man sentenced for scuffle with officer
An East Chicago man was sentenced by Lake Superior Court Judge Samuel Cappas to 18 months on Wednesday for battery resulting in bodily injury.
Bryant Dante Love, 40, will serve his sentence in Lake County Community Corrections.
In court in April, Love admitted that on May 9, 2013, he came into contact with East Chicago police Patrolman Alex Perez in the 4500 block of Indianapolis Boulevard in East Chicago. Love got into an argument with Perez, who took Love to the ground. During the incident, Love admitted that he touched Perez in a rude, insolent or angry manner, which caused bodily injury to the officer.
Charges of resisting law enforcement, possession of cocaine, criminal mischief and two infractions were dismissed.
Man gets 4 years for crack possession
A Gary man was sentenced by Lake Superior Court Judge Samuel Cappas to four years on Wednesday for possession of a controlled substance.
Mondale Nelson Jr., 44, admitted in court last month that he had 0.89 gross grams of crack cocaine in a plastic bag in his possession on May 14, 2014, when he was at a gas station in the 1500 block of Broadway in Gary. The location was about 900 feet from Washington Park, a public park.
Cappas said Nelson will serve two years in the Indiana Department of Correction, one year in Lake County Community Corrections and one year on probation.
Gary man charged in attack on woman
Charges of kidnapping, criminal confinement, domestic battery and battery with moderate bodily injury have been filed against a Gary man accused of attacking the mother of his children.
Gary police received several 911 calls after the victim told police Antoine Terrell Kimbrough arrived at a gas station about 9:45 a.m. July 8 at a gas station in the 4900 block of Georgia Street, jumped through the driver’s side window of the 2007 Dodge Charger as she tried to drive away, then pulled her out of the car and began punching her in the face, court records state.
The woman told police he got into the driver’s seat, and she tried to retrieve her belongings when Kimbrough grabbed her hair and drove south on Georgia Street with her hanging out of the door, records state. Kimbrough turned around on 51st Avenue at Georgia Street and drove north. At 43rd Avenue, he grabbed her by the hair, pulled her from the car, stood over her and began kicking her in the face and head, records state.
A passerby stopped his car and told the woman to get in, which she did, records state. Kimbrough got back in the Charger and left.
The woman said she later learned the two children she has with Kimbrough, ages 2 and 10 months, were in the car that Kimbrough arrived in at the gas station, records state.
The woman had swelling and redness to her face, an injury to her nose, elbows and back, and several cuts on both arms.
Hammond woman shot in face
A Hammond woman was shot in the face early Wednesday morning after initialing believing the man who broke into her house punched her.
The 36 year-old woman told police a 6-foot, heavyset man broke into her residence in the 200 block of Ogden Street about 1:45 a.m., Hammond Police Department Public Information Officer Richard Hoyda said Wednesday. She told officers that she thought she’d been punched, so she drove herself to Franciscan St. Margaret Health for treatment.
Medical personnel discovered she’d been shot in the face, Hoyda said. The injury isn’t believed to be life-threatening, but she was taken to an Illinois hospital for treatment.
The victim told officers a set of keys was missing from her residence prior to the shooting, Hoyda said, so police believe she was targeted. The victim said she didn’t know the man who broke in, however.
Anyone with information can contact Hammond Detective David Carter at 219-852-2906 or 219-853-6490.
— Ruth Ann Krause and Michelle L. Quinn
