Full Notification

On 11/24/2016 just before 1:00 am, the Steuben County Sheriff’s Office responded to a report of a suspicious vehicle and two subjects walking around with a pair of bolt cutters in the area of the Corner 200 Storage Units located near the intersection of CR 200 W and CR 200 N in rural Steuben County. Upon arrival, responding officers located a white pickup truck parked between two storage buildings with numerous items in the bed of the truck. Officers also observed several storage units with cut padlocks lying beside the unit doors. Officers then began checking the unsecured storage units before a male subject exited one of the nearby units and surrendered. The subject indicated that there were two other people involved and they were subsequently located inside other nearby storage units. Taken into custody were 19 year old Braxton Easton and 18 year old Stephani Hartley both of Fremont. A 17 year old male juvenile was also apprehended. Sheriff’s detectives were then called to the scene to assist in the investigation. Through the course of the investigation it was determined that 12 storage units had been burglarized. Following interviews with Sheriff’s detectives, Easton and Hartley were booked into the Steuben County Jail on 12 counts of burglary, a level 5 felony. The male juvenile was placed by Steuben County Probation at a juvenile detention facility. The Sheriff’s Office reminds citizens to report any suspicious activity immediately to local law enforcement. Assisting the Sheriff’s Office in the investigation were the Angola Police Department and the Indiana State Police.

**Any criminal charge is merely an accusation. The Defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.**