December 5, 2013
12/06/13 Andrew White, 49 of rural Plymouth, was sentenced Thursday to ten years imprisonment at the Indiana Department of Corrections for manufacturing methamphetamine and one and a half years for possession of stolen property. Judge Robert O. Bowen of Marshall Superior Court No. 1 accepted a sentencing agreement reached between Chief Deputy Prosecutor Nelson Chipman and defense attorney Douglas N. Hite. Four years of the sentence was suspended.
Court documents reveal that in early September, 2012 a burglary was reported at the former location of Stone Creek Homes on Markley Drive in Plymouth. Numerous items were reported stolen including a 1994 Ford cargo box truck. Detective Leo Mangus of the Plymouth Police Department began an investigation. In November of 2012, Sheriff’s Deputy Jonathon Bryant received information from a confidential source that the cargo box had been removed from a truck and was now located at a residence on Rose Road. The source also described other items that matched stolen items from Stone Creek Homes, and indicated that a truck had been dismantled and sold at various scrapyards in the area.
Detective Mangus was able to determine that on October 31, 2012, Andrew White had sold over 3000 pounds of steel to Lewis Salvage in Warsaw. Lewis Salvage cooperated in the investigation and supplied documents that identified the purchaser and photographs of the scrap which appeared to be pieces of a truck frame.
Tom Flynn of Plymouth, a previous owner of the box truck was able to supply Mangus with a photograph of the truck which depicted distinctive marks. With the photograph, Mangus visited the Rose Road address and observed a cargo box that had been removed from a truck, placed on the ground and recently painted. He was, however, able to identify the distinctive dent in exactly the same place as depicted in Flynn’s photograph. At the time of his visit, Mangus also observed a black Dodge pickup truck with a large box in the bed. The box was labeled Stone Creek Homes, and contained a lavatory with backsplash. It was consistent with an item taken during the burglary. The truck was identified as belonging to Danny Steinke, who was previously sentenced to a term of imprisonment.
Mangus obtained a search warrant on December 6, 2012 to search the Rose Road property. When he arrived with other officers, Mangus observed Andrew White in the driver’s seat of a black Ford pickup truck. A power extension cord was running from the cab of the truck to a shed on the property. White exited the truck and walked Mangus away from that location. Mangus, however, directed Officer John Weir to examine the contents of the cab where he found a methamphetamine producing lab. White eventually admitted to Mangus he was grinding up pseudoephedrine pills and was in the process of cooking methamphetamine.
Chipman praised the excellent detective work of Leo Mangus and the Plymouth Police Department in solving the Stone Creek Homes burglary, with the assistance of Marshall County Police Department officers. “We are very fortunate to have the expertise and perseverance of detectives such as Leo Mangus.”