Timeline From The Past: Assault And Battery Charges, Shooting Spree
From the Files of the Kosciusko County Historical Society
Editor’s note: This is a retrospective article that runs a few times a month on InkFreeNews.
March 13, 1968 — A Kosciusko Circuit Court jury late last night convicted local barber Earl C. Evans of assault and battery in the “roughing up” of an 11-year-old boy last Oct. 31, but could not agree on the guilt or innocence of Warsaw Mayor Paul (Mike) Hodges.
The jury of eight men and four women deliberated for approximately six hours and 20 minutes before returning to the courtroom at 10:30 p.m. to announce the verdicts.
March 17, 1960 — Two Warsaw city police officers have been suspended and one is being held in the county jail following a shooting spree in the early hours this morning at a local gas station.
Officer Harold Biltz, 27, of 1704-1/2 E. Smith St., is held in the county jail, facing possible charges of drunk and disorderly, discharging a firearm in the city and resisting arrest.
His companion, Officer Art Turner, 26, was suspended from duty by Mayor Paul “Mike” Hodges and Chief of Police Eugene Brumfield at Turner’s home, 410 S. Hickory St., shortly after the incident.
Both officers were armed and in full uniform but were off duty when the episode started at the Red Comet Oil Co. station, 742 E. Center St., at 3:10 a.m.
March 15, 1958 — The sheriff’s race in Kosciusko County was even “hotter” today as the Republican field reached 10 with filings Friday by former mayor Paul “Mike” Hodges and Russell C. Lichtenwalter, of Plain Township.
Altogether, there are 14 men now seeking the sheriff’s $10,000-a-year office. Four are candidates for the Democrat nomination.
– Compiled by InkFreeNews reporter Lasca Randels