Staff Report

Mark Andrew Vining

WINONA LAKE — A Mentone man was arrested after allegedly stealing a vehicle from Whitley County and possessing drugs.

Mark Andrew Vining, 34, 5645 S. 1000W, Mentone, is charged with possession of methamphetamine, a level 4 felony; auto theft, a level 6 felony; and operating a vehicle with a controlled substance in the body and possession of paraphernalia, both class C misdemeanors.

On March 15, law enforcement received a report about a silver 2001 Chevrolet Tracker being stolen from Whitley County. The suspect vehicle was last seen traveling south on CR 250E in Kosciusko County. Winona Lake and Warsaw Police officers, and a Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office detective, located the stolen vehicle.

According to court documents, when the vehicle was stopped, an officer saw the driver, later identified as Vining, reach around the vehicle and throw something out of the passenger’s side window.

Vining claimed he borrowed the vehicle from a man and retrieved it during the overnight hours of March 14 and 15. A Whitley County Sheriff’s Office deputy, who took the initial theft report on March 7 from the vehicle owner’s mother, said the owner was in custody at the time of the theft. Vining did not have permission to possess the vehicle.

Officers searched the area outside the vehicle’s passenger side window and found a screwdriver. Vining stated it was the “key” for the vehicle. Upon examining the vehicle’s ignition, officers saw the ignition was tampered with so it could be started with a screwdriver.

While searching the stolen vehicle, officers found a cigarette package containing 14.8 grams of meth and a homemade smoking device.

Vining said he recently used the meth and smoking device. A drug recognition analysis performed on Vining showed he was impaired under a stimulant. The responding KCSO detective said he did not believe Vining could safely operate a vehicle in his condition.

At the time of this case, Vining was under a pretrial diversion agreement for a meth possession case in Kosciusko County.

Vining has already been arrested and released on bond. He has a pretrial conference at 3 p.m. June 17, in Kosciusko Circuit Court.