Staff Report

Duane Edward Mangum II

WARSAW — A Warsaw man was recently arrested after allegedly stealing a woman’s car with a child inside.

Duane Edward Mangum II, 37, 441 S. Detroit St., Warsaw, is charged with criminal confinement, a level 5 felony; theft, a level 6 felony; theft, a class A misdemeanor; and unauthorized entry of a motor vehicle and public intoxication, both class B misdemeanors.

On March 17, a Warsaw Police officer responded to an auto theft at the Circle K gas station on Lake Street. Upon arrival at the scene, the officer spoke with a woman about her vehicle.

According to court documents, the woman said she parked her vehicle at the gas pumps while it was still running and entered the gas station. Her child was in the vehicle’s backseat at the time. While inside the station, the woman looked outside and noticed her vehicle was gone. The woman left the store and noticed her vehicle was next door, in the Subway parking lot.

As the woman ran to her vehicle, the vehicle’s driver was backing across the grass between the properties and hit a metal pole, coming to a stop before reaching the Circle K parking lot. The woman saw a man, later identified as Mangum, exit her vehicle and leave the area on foot. Her vehicle sustained minor damage from being backed into the metal post.

Magnum left a sock cap in the woman’s vehicle. The responding officer recognized that the hat belonged to a man he dealt with on a trespassing complaint at the Time Out Inn. This complaint occurred shortly before the auto theft incident.

The officer found Mangum walking on West Lake Street, carrying several packages that appeared to still be sealed from shipping. Mangum was exhibiting physical signs of intoxication and refused to speak with law enforcement when he was taken into custody.

The packages Mangum was carrying were addressed to a Warsaw woman. The packages included lightbulbs, lights, and a speaker, with a total value of $684. The woman said the packages had been in her vehicle.

Mangum is currently under a suspended sentence for resisting law enforcement.

For this case, Mangum was booked in the Kosciusko County Jail on March 17, with a $15,250 surety and cash bond.