Vacationing cop surprises burglar

ROME CITY, Ind. (WANE) - A four-hour sting operation paid off for police in Northeast Indiana when officers say they caught an alleged burglar red-handed.

Rome City Town Marshal Steve Heltzel says the operation was inspired by information from a tipster. That tipster told police a teen had been inside the Video Unlimited store and had unlocked a window with a plan to return at night and rob the place.

Heltzel, and another officer decided to camp out at Video Unlimited when it closed Monday night. They left all the lights off, and waited for hours. They wore bulletproof vests, having been warned by Noble County Sheriff Deputies that the likely suspect had been known to carry a gun. Hours went by, midnight came and went, but Heltzel says, nothing happened until just before three o'clock in the morning.

That's when the front window of the video store opened, and eventually a 17-year old perpetrator crawled inside. Heltzel says the teen crawled on the floor, trying to avoid appearing on a surveillance camera in the front of the store.

"He was totally surprised," said Heltzel, who participated in the sting, though he was on vacation.

Once officers got the Wolcottville teen into custody, police say he ratted out his get-away driver, 19-year old Catessa Butler of Albion. Police caught up with her in a parked car nearby.

"They had to be pretty bold to come through the front window," said Video Unlimited Manager Judy Ritchie. Ritchie says the store is well lit at night. The store, a family business, has been victimized by burglary in the past. That's why store owners were so willing to work with police on the stake out.

"If we could stop it before it happened, this time, that was a plus," said Ritchie.

Heltzel says the alleged burglar didn't say much to the officers when they apprehended him, but he did ask Heltzel what they were doing in the store.

"I told him, 'We hang out in here every night,'" said Heltzel with a laugh.

The 17-year old suspect's case has been turned over to the Noble County Probation Department. Butler is facing two charges: Aiding in a Burglary, and Contributing to the Delinquency of a Minor.