NORTH WEBSTER — Police say a North Webster man stole an economy-sized pickup truck and then stored it in his storage unit with other ill-gotten booty and illegal drugs. A search warrant led officers to arrest the man when the doors were opened to the storage unit and the evidence was found.

Jason Scott Lewallen

Jason Scott Lewallen, 32, 7280 E. CR 650N, North Webster, is charged with burglary, a level 5 felony; auto theft, a level 6 felony; possession of methamphetamine, a level 6 felony; and possession of methamphetamine with enhancing circumstances, a level 5 felony.

According to the affidavit of probable cause, officers with the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Department responded to a report of a burglary and auto theft on Jan. 13. The victim told police his home was under construction and that a customized Chevrolet S-10 was stolen from his barn sometime after Nov. 10, 2017.

Police received information that Lewallen had stolen an S-10 pickup and that he was storing the vehicle in a storage unit in North Webster. The information police received added that the storage unit was full of stolen items.

Armed with a search warrant, police gained access to the storage unit and found the truck, along with a battery and hammer stolen from the barn that originally housed the pickup truck.

However, police also found a torque wrench and miscellaneous air-powered tools that had been reported stolen from a manufactured home factory by the Middlebury Police Department, as well as a white powdery substance that field tested positive for methamphetamine.

Police charged Lewallen with possession with enhancing circumstances due to a prior conviction for dealing the illegal drug.