HAMMOND MAN COULD AVOID PRISON FOR SHOOTING OUTSIDE BAR
A Hammond man could avoid prison for shooting outside a bar after an argument in 2024.
Alejandro Zamudio, 36, pleaded guilty in a plea agreement filed Thursday to attempted battery resulting in serious bodily injury, a level 5 felony.
The plea deal calls for a 4-year sentence, with 360 days in Lake County Community Corrections and the rest on probation.
If a judge accepts the deal, a sentencing hearing is April 23.
Around 11:10 p.m. on May 15, 2024, police responded to a report of a shooting in the 1400 block of Michigan Street, according to the probable cause affidavit. The victim called police and told them he had been shot in the face in the parking lot of Las Palmas Bar, located at 1403 Michigan St., and he was headed to the police department.
GARY MAN CHARGED AFTER SHOOTING EX-GIRLFRIEND, MAN
A Gary man was charged this week after shooting at an ex-girlfriend and another man in February.
Gijeon Spence, 43, is charged with attempted murder, two counts of aggravated battery, two counts of unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon, two counts of stalking and one count of criminal recklessness.
He is in custody, held without bail.
Gary Police responded at 1:30 p.m. Feb. 27 to the 1400 block of Jefferson Street for a shots fired call.
The victim said Spence opened fire when she and a friend left the home. Neither were wounded.
Just before, the woman said Spence followed her to a gas station on Broadway Avenue. A relative with her confronted Spence, who tried to run the relative over, according to the affidavit. The man fired a few shots at Spence in “self-defense.”
Court records show Spence has a 2008 reckless homicide conviction in Lake County.
He also was charged with attempted murder after a Sept. 11, 2017 shooting near the mall.
The victim told police that Spence cut him off in the mall parking lot, then opened fire. He was shot in the face. Just before, the man said he had ran into Spence at a nearby Wal-Mart.
There was “bad blood” from various Facebook messages they traded, records allege.
Prosecutors later dismissed the case, saying they couldn’t prove it.
MERRILLVILLE MAN CHARGED AFTER BEATING
A Merrillville man faces charges for repeatedly beating a woman in a car. Court records state it was an alcohol-fueled incident.
Shawn Page, 44, is charged with attempted murder, two counts of aggravated battery, two counts of criminal confinement, one count of domestic battery, intimidation and misdemeanor criminal mischief.
He is in custody, held on a $15,000 cash bond. His next hearing is March 25.
Hobart Police responded March 14 to Methodist Hospital Northlake in Gary.
Two women told police they both lived with Page at a Merrillville hotel and had a sexual relationship with him.
After he got kicked out of Sheffield’s in Merrillville on March 14, Page told the victim to park in the AMC theaters parking lot in Hobart. There, he started to beat the woman inside the car.
“I could kill you,” he said. “I will kill you.”
Page told her to drive back to the hotel. There, he got out, opened the driver’s door and beat her again for 15 or 20 minutes. The other woman’s relative was in the car, who said Page was “very drunk,” documents state.
When police later arrested Page, he said he had no memory of it, but “probably did do it.”
He recently broke the other woman’s arm, records state.
CHICAGO MAN CONVICTED AFTER NWI COPS FIND DRUGS, GUN IN TRAFFIC STOP
A Chicago man was convicted Wednesday after Schererville police found drugs and a gun during a June 2024 traffic stop.
Reginald Hicks, now 70, was charged with unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon, possession of a narcotic drug, possession of an altered firearm and possession of cocaine.
He denied the accusations and pleaded not guilty.
A probable cause affidavit states he was pulled over at 11:15 p.m. near U.S. 41 and U.S. 30. Police found at least 7 bags of heroin and two bags of crack cocaine. The gun was in a locked glove box.
Hicks was convicted of aggravated battery in Illinois in 2005, court records state.
A sentencing hearing is April 16.
GARY MAN GETS 13 YEARS FOR DEALING METH
A Gary man was sentenced to 13 years in federal prison Friday for dealing meth, according to a news release.
Mark Lyons, 32, pleaded guilty in October in the U.S. District Court of Northern Indiana to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.
Court filings show postal inspectors got a search warrant after Lyons sent Tramadol through the mail at the Gary Post Office.
At his home in October 2024, they found just over 25 pounds of meth, nearly 680 grams of marijuana, just over 560 grams of bromazolam, nearly 100 grams of MDMA, 72 grams of mushrooms, a gun in a kitchen drawer and pill presses.
He ran a “large-scale drug manufacturing operation” while his wife and young children lived in the home, Assistant U.S. Attorney Ambris Saravanan wrote in filings.
Defense lawyer Maryam Afshar-Stewart asked for a 10-year sentence to give her client a better chance for rehabilitation.
