Kosciusko County

SYRACUSE - A Kosciuscko County company is planning on investing millions in an expansion, and adding jobs. Poly-Wood Incorporated, a manufacturer of outdoor furniture, announced a $2.78 million project that will expand operations at its Syracuse location. The company says it will create 50 new jobs by 2015. Poly-Wood currently employs 87 full-time workers in Indiana. Hiring is set to begin in March.

Police were still on the scene late Sunday after stopping a vehicle that led police on a Kosciusko County chase. The vehicle failed to stop after a North Webster officer tried to stop the driver, the Sheriff’s Department tells SBT24/7 News. Police continued chasing the vehicle, initially described as a minivan. They asked to have stop sticks placed near the National Weather Service office at Syracuse, as other agencies were notified to assist police. The driver was stopped in Kosciusko County, authorities said, but they are not yet releasing any other details.

CLAYPOOL - A Columbia City man is behind bars accused of fondling a 3-year-old Kosciusko County girl. County police were called to a Claypool home around 11:30 p.m. Monday. The young girl's mother told deputies a family friend of hers stopped by earlier to visit and brought her brother, who she identified as Zachery Walsh. The mom said she and her friend went to Warsaw for hair supplies and left Walsh to watch her 3-year-old and 4-year-old sister. The mother returned and found the 3-year-old had apparently been inappropriately touched by Walsh.

Police say an Illinois woman died Thursday from head injuries received in a motorcycle accident in eastern Kosciusko County. Thursday's accident happened on U.S. 30 near County Road 450 East. Police say 39-year-old Paula M. Harwood of Bourbonnais, Illinois was a passenger on a motorcycle driven by her husband, 44-year-old Thomas C. Harwood. Their rear tire had a blowout, causing the motorcycle to skid and flip, according to witnesses. Thomas was seriously injured when he hit the pavement, say police.

WINONA LAKE - Indiana Governor Mike Pence stopped in Kosciusko County less than 24 hours after giving his first State of the State address. Pence gave the keynote speech Wednesday at the Kosciusko County Chamber of Commerce Awards Banquet in Winona Lake. He talked about some of the same proposals he gave during his State of the State. One of the big plans is for a 10% reduction in state income tax over two years, an idea that's not sitting well will some in the legislature, even with members of the governor's own party.

Police say there were eight drug arrests in Kosciusko County in the last few days. Around 6:30 a.m. on Christmas Day, Warsaw police were following a tip when they found a “one pot” meth lab in a room at the Economy Inn. They arrested two Warsaw residents — 29-year-old Brandon James Karbach and 28-year-old Tiffany Page Anderson. Both had bonds set at $10,000. Police say as officers were leaving the scene, they stopped a passing driver after identifying him as 43-year-old Larry Ellis Konkle of Warsaw, who was wanted on an outstanding drug warrant.

SYRACUSE - Police say an adult and juvenile were arrested soon after a Sunday-morning stabbing near Papakeechie Lake in Syracuse that left a man in serious condition. Officers responding to a 911 call about the stabbing found the victim, 24-year-old Tyler James Niles, covered in blood and lying in the front yard of a location in the 9700 block of East Bald Eagle Drive, Syracuse, in the Papakeechie Estates Addition. Niles had a stab wound to his neck, say police.

CROMWELL - A Kosciusko County woman is behind bars on drug charges. An officer with the county's Drug Task Force arrested 48-year-old Regina Paluchniak at her Cromwell home Friday morning. Paluchniak was booked on a felony for possession of methamphetamine stemming from a June incident involving a meth lab investigation in the Syracuse area. Police say Paluchniak was part of a recent drug warrant blitz conducted by Kosciusko County and Syracuse police. Bond was set at $20,000.

WARSAW - Two Warsaw men are behind bars after they allegedly sold drugs to undercover cops. On Friday, the Kosciusko County Drug Task Force arrested 25-year-old Nathaniel Hollett and 45-year-old Jose Fuentes. Hollett is charged with a felony dealing marijuana, while Fuentes was booked on preliminary charges of dealing a controlled substance (prescription medicine). Both men are accused of selling drugs to undercover police last month in Kosciusko County. Bonds for both Hollett and Fuentes were set at $20,000 by the Kosciusko County prosecutor's office.

NORTH WEBSTER - A Kosciusko County man is behind bars after falsely accusing a North Webster police officer of committing murder. In May, detectives with the county sheriff's department started an investigation into allegations made against the police officer. North Webster Town Marshal Greg Church told investigators he had been contacted by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations, who said they received an e-mail from a Kosciusko County man identified as Michael Roy Wiggins, 32, North Webster.

NORTH WEBSTER - A Kosciusko County man was badly hurt in a bicycle accident on Friday. Around 4:20 p.m., county sheriff's deputies and North Webster emergency crews were called to McKenna Road, east of Robert Lewis Drive. When they arrived, they found Daniel King, 50, of Leesburg on the ground suffering from extensive head and facial injuries. Medics performed CPR on King who was immediately taken by Samaritan helicopter and airlifted to Parkview Regional Medical Center in Fort Wayne in critical condition.

BURKET, Ind. - Police in Kosciusko County have uncovered what may be the largest marijuana grow operation in the county's history. Acting on an anonymous tip Monday morning, members of the Kosciusko County Sheriff's Department Drug Task Force went to a small rural farm in the 7800 block of West, County Road 600 South, southwest of the town of Burket. Officers met with the owner, Christopher Cords, 48, who gave police the okay to search his barns and out-buildings. Deputies then uncovered an elaborate indoor marijuana grow operation which covered several rooms inside the main barn.

Two individuals were arrested in the last 48 hours on drug related charges, according to Kosciusko County Sherrif's department. Deputies and Kosciusko County Drug Task Force officers were dispatched to a residence Monday afternoon at the 700 block of County Road 800 South in Claypool after receiving a tip of possible methamphetadmine production. Police say officers arrived at the residence and found an active meth lab, as well as the resident, identified as Norman Lee McCord.

PIERCETON, Ind. - Kosciusko County police say a Warsaw man is dead after he crashed his moped and was run over by an SUV. Shortly after 10 p.m. Sunday, sheriff's deputies and medics were called to the 5000 block of Pierceton Road, just west of Pierceton. There, they found Brandon Hollon, 23, of Warsaw in the road with serious injuries. Fatal crash investigators say Hollon was heading west when he suddenly lost control of his moped and crashed. There's no word what caused him to lose control.

WARSAW - Kosciusko County police are warning us about an email scam that has surfaced in our area. Sheriff Rocky Goshert says people have recently received emails containing fraudulent information, saying the owner's credit card has been suspended. The message goes on to say that activating the card is “quick and easy,” and the credit card has been “suspended for your protection.” Goshert says the email than asks the person to complete a downloaded form that's attached to the original message and provide personal information, including Social Security number, mother's maiden name, credit card number and PIN number.

SYRACUSE, Ind. - A northern Kosciusko County man was robbed and attacked in his home early Sunday morning, and police are looking for the culprits. Just after 12:30 a.m., police in Syracuse were called to the 600 block of N. Harrison St. After arriving, they learned Jeremy Smith had been the victim of a home invasion. Smith told officers he heard someone pounding on his back door, and when he went to answer it, two men kicked in the door and attacked him. Police say once inside, the suspects, both dressed in black and wearing ski type masks, hit Smith several times.

WARSAW - A Kosciusko County man was seriously hurt when his motorcycle slammed into a car. County police say it happened on State Road 25 at the intersection of County Road 25. They say around 2:20 p.m. Tuesday, Richard Lattea, 46, of Etna Green was riding his motorcycle north on S.R. 25 behind a 2007 Cadillac when the driver of the Cadillac slowed as she approached the intersection to turn east. That's when Lattea's bike hit the back of the car. When police and medics arrived, Lattea was lying on the ground in “ respiratory distress.” He reportedly had a collapsed lung and was airlifted to Lutheran Memorial Hospital in Fort Wayne where he was in serious condition.

WARSAW - An autopsy was scheduled Monday on a Kosciusko County man found dead inside a home. Police were called to the Hide-Away Hills Mobile Home Park Sunday afternoon for a welfare check. When they arrived, they found the man dead. Kosciusko County news site Stacey Page Online is reporting this is a suspicious death. Crime Scene investigators, detectives and the coroner are investigating. Detectives are interviewing an individual about the case, but there's no word yet whether that person is a suspect.

CLAYPOOL - A Columbia City man is behind bars accused of fondling a 3-year-old Kosciusko County girl. County police were called to a Claypool home around 11:30 p.m. Monday. The young girl's mother told deputies a family friend of hers stopped by earlier to visit and brought her brother, who she identified as Zachery Walsh. The mom said she and her friend went to Warsaw for hair supplies and left Walsh to watch her 3-year-old and 4-year-old sister. The mother returned and found the 3-year-old had apparently been inappropriately touched by Walsh.