A Marshall County jury deliberated for over three hours on Wednesday, after which it found Russell Prosser guilty of one count of possession of stolen property, one count of resisting law enforcement, four counts of unauthorized entry of motor vehicles and four counts of theft of items found in those vehicles. After hearing two days of testimony, the jury returned its verdict to presiding Judge Dean A. Colvin of Marshall Superior Court Number two. Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Nelson Chipman represented the State, and Plymouth attorneys Jere Humphrey and Matthew Sarber represented Prosser.
The jury heard the case started when officer Troy Ulch of the Culver Police Department was dispatched to a residence on Terrace Parkway in Culver on the night of December 8, 2013. Officer Ulch received a description of an individual who had entered the garage of the resident and left uninvited walking through the yards of neighbors. A fresh blanket of snow aided Ulch in tracking the suspect through several residential blocks on the east side of the Town of Culver. Eventually Ulch came upon a citizen who just had a face to face encounter with the suspect as he was making a move to enter that person’s car. The suspect at that time was carrying a lunch container and had continued on through residential yards.
Ulch finally encountered the individual and put a spot light in his direction. The suspect then ran with Ulch in foot pursuit. The chase ended at the Pearl Street Apartments where a resident gave a detailed description of a suspicious pick-up truck parked in the area.
Officer Ulch was unable to locate the individual at that time. He re-traced his footsteps and came upon several items later determined to have been stolen from the automobiles of a number of Culver residents. Ulch also took a number of photographs of footprints in the snow made by the individual he chased. A description of the truck was communicated to area law enforcement agencies as well.
At approximately 4:30 am on December 9, 2013, the same truck was located parked in the MacDonald’s parking lot in LaPaz by Sgt. Nick Laffoon, and assisted by Officer Ryan Hollopeter of the Marshall County Police Department. Sleeping in the truck was Russell Prosser. His boots were examined and found to have the same tread pattern as the footprints in Culver. After being taking into custody for charges unrelated to the Culver escapade, a wallet was found on Prosser that belonged to a Culver resident. A search warrant was executed and found in the truck was a GPS unit that returned to the same Culver resident’s address.
The description of the person running from Ulch included long hair flowing from the sides of a white hoodie. Prosser had short hair but was wearing a white hoodie. The search of the truck also revealed a blond wig.
Chipman called over 19 witnesses and entered into evidence 97 exhibits over the course of the two day trial. Assistant Chief Chad Becker testified about the processing of the various exhibits. Indiana State Police Forensic Scientist Tim Pycraft, an expert in fingerprints and footprints also testified to close out the evidence. Prosser chose to present no evidence and did not testify. After deliberating for the rest of the afternoon, the jury returned verdicts of guilty on all 10 counts alleged.
Judge Colvin set sentencing for later in November after a pre-sentence investigation and report is prepared and filed. Due to statutory limitations, Prosser faces a maximum sentence of four years of imprisonment. In the meantime, Prosser awaits trial to begin on November 12 on two counts of Possession of a Firearm by a Serious Violent Felon, and a sentencing enhancement charge of being an Habitual Offender. On those charges Prosser faces a maximum of 70 years imprisonment.
Readers are reminded that the remaining two charges of Possession of a Firearm by a Serious Violent Felon, alleged to be enhanced by the Habitual Offender charge, are only allegations and Russell Prosser is presumed innocent of those charges, until or unless he is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
