Kyler Northrup

WARSAW — A Garrett man was sentenced at Kosciusko Circuit Court Monday, Jan. 21, for a theft that occurred in 2016.

Kyler Lee Northrup, 33, 910 West King Street, Garrett, pleaded guilty to auto theft, a level 6 felony. 

On March 30, 2017, an officer with the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office was working an unrelated case. He spoke with a man who stated that on Dec. 16, 2016, Northrup arrived at his residence with a yellow Honda ATV and confessed he had stolen it. Northrup allegedly asked the man to go with him to a probation meeting in DeKalb County. After the probation meeting, Northrup dropped the ATV off at someone’s residence.

According to the affidavit of probable cause, the officer then spoke with the DeKalb County Probation Office. Employees were able to confirm that Northrup was at the probation department on Dec. 16, 2016, and provided surveillance video of the parking area. The video shows Northrup arriving in a truck that had a yellow Honda ATV in the bed.

The officer spoke with the owners of the ATV who identified the stolen ATV as theirs.

In court today, Northrup’s attorney, Jay Rigdon, told Judge Michael Reed that Northrup is dealing with significant medical issues. Officials with the Kosciusko County Probation Department informed the judge that Northrup has had new charges filed against him since the time the original pre-sentence investigation report was submitted as well as a warrant for his arrest issued by DeKalb County for failure to appear.

“I want to go back to the halfway house and be a success with it,” Northrup said.

“You’ve pretty much got yourself in a pickle,” said Reed. “We’ve tried to work with you, but you’ve done everything you could to sabotage yourself.”

Reed sentenced Northrup to one year at the Kosciusko County Jail and ordered that the sentence be served consecutive to any sentence Northrup receives in other pending cases. 

Northrup was given four days of jail time credit and ordered to pay $5,878 in restitution. Reed stated he would have no objection to Northrup serving the sentence through work release or community corrections, provided he is qualified and remains qualified.