Crown Point Jewel-Osco employee charged with touching co-worker
A Crown Point man is facing charges for touching his co-worker at Jewel-Osco.
Eric Williams, 60, is charged with sexual battery and one misdemeanor.
He is in custody, held on a $5,000 cash bond.
A probable cause affidavit alleges police responded around 6:30 a.m. Feb. 4 to the Crown Point grocery store, 1276 N. Main Street.
The victim said she was working in an aisle around 2 a.m. when he got “handsy” and “grinded” against her, according to the affidavit.
“I can do for you what your husband can’t,” he said, court records state.
He groped her buttocks, moved his hand up her legs, then kissed her.
“You look mad,” he responded.
When she said she was, he told her to give him a hug. She escaped and told a female co-worker. Surveillance video did not show the incident, but when each left the aisles.
Police arrested Williams at his other job at a Luke’s gas station. He claimed the encounter was “consensual.”
Gary man faces 30 years in wife’s death
A Gary man faces 30 years in his wife’s fatal shooting.
Garry Moore, 66, pleaded guilty in documents filed Jan. 30 to voluntary manslaughter in the July 11, 2023, death of Tanya Moore, 55.
If a judge accepts, his sentencing is March 11.
The plea deal would dismiss a murder charge, gun charge and separate case for failing to register as a sex offender, records show.
Gary Police responded around 4:50 a.m. July 11, 2023, to their home on the 2200 block of Kentucky Street. A cop found Moore trying to do CPR on her. A gun was on the counter.
Moore said they had been married for 35 years. He claimed to police that their argument stemmed from when he cheated in 2017 and she “couldn’t let it go,” court documents state. She was in the process of moving out. He said she ran into their “office” to grab a gun.
Saying he was a “9th degree black belt,” he did a martial arts move to turn the barrel away from him. It went off, hitting her in the chest, he claimed. Police discounted his story.
Portage man faces up to six years for hitting man with car in Lake Station
A Portage man faces up to six years for hitting a man with a car in Lake Station.
Brandon Butera, 37, pleaded guilty Feb. 5 to criminal recklessness.
If a judge accepts the plea deal, his sentencing is April 10.
Lake Station Police responded around 11:50 p.m. April 23, 2024, to the 1600 block of E. 33rd Avenue.
The victim told officers that his relative had a restraining order against Butera. As Butera drove by, he yelled for him to “leave (his) family alone,” charges state.
Butera stopped, then swung around. When the victim crossed the street to talk with him, Butera swerved and hit him with the car, the affidavit states.
Chesterton man faces 7-year split term in fatal crash
A Chesterton man faces a seven-year split term in a fatal crash.
Justin Eder, 32, pleaded guilty Feb. 3 to causing death when operating a vehicle with an ACE of .08 or more.
If a judge accepts the plea, he would face four years in prison, two years in Lake County Community Corrections Kimbrough work release and one year probation. His driver’s license would be suspended for three years.
A sentencing hearing is scheduled March 25.
Eder was driving 94 mph before the crash and had a blood alcohol level more than 1.5 times the legal limit, according to court documents.
Indiana State Police troopers arrived on April 6, 2021, at the accident site on Interstate 80 eastbound, just past the Broadway Avenue exit.
A witness told troopers Eder was heading around a semi when he rear-ended a Toyota, according to the affidavit.
The Toyota’s driver was being treated by EMTs. The passenger, Zahid Ali, 39, of Marshalltown, Iowa, died a week later, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Michigan City woman could avoid prison in injury crash
A Michigan City woman could avoid prison after investigators found meth in her system following a Cedar Lake injury crash.
Rayann Ravenscroft, 51, pleaded guilty Feb. 4 to causing serious bodily injury when operating a vehicle with a Schedule I or II substance in her blood.
The plea deal calls for her to serve a sentence up to six years in Lake County Community Corrections. If a judge accepts, her sentencing date is scheduled April 9.
Officers responded at 10:25 p.m. June 5, 2022, to the 15200 block of Wicker Avenue (Indianapolis Boulevard) in Cedar Lake for a reported accident.
A woman told police she was driving southbound on Wicker Avenue near W. 151st Ave when another car blew a stop sign and she T-boned it.
The other woman was taken to the hospital with a fractured sternum.
Ravenscroft’s passenger Steven Pflughaupt said he saw the other car coming.
He was taken to the hospital with a broken arm and a few broken ribs. Pflughaupt died suddenly June 9, 2022, from an unrelated cause, according to court records.
mcolias@post-trib.com
