Northwest Indiana Discussion

Hobart man charged with murder

Police say night of heavy drinking likely fueled crime spree


LAKE STATION | Police say a 50-year-old Hobart man, fueled by a night of heavy drinking, fired off numerous rounds inside his house, stole a car, reloaded his .22-caliber pistol and traveled to Lake Station where he shot and killed a 48-year-old man.

Leon Scott Freville, of 7241 Mississippi St., Hobart, was charged Monday with murder through Lake Superior Court.

John Timothy Brooks, 48, of Lake Station, died of a head wound.

Freville also was charged on Friday with intimidation, criminal recklessness and carrying a handgun without a license.

The motive for the slaying remains unclear, although, in one account told to a Hobart firefighter, Freville claimed he was attacked by Brooks and had to defend himself, Lake Station police Detective Kevin Garber said.

That account didn't mesh with what police discovered when they found Brooks dead and seated with a cigar still in his mouth in his home in the 2500 block of Decatur Street in Lake Station. Police said there were several bullet holes in the walls, windows, stereo and television and numerous spent and unspent bullets.

"It didn't appear there was a struggle," Garber said.

Hobart police earlier Friday morning were dispatched to a house at 7241 Mississippi St. on a report of multiple shots fired.

Hobart Officer Darren Sandilla responded and was told by a man there that his roommate, Freville, had taken his 1995 Lincoln Town Car and fled.

Prior to leaving his Hobart home, Freville angrily had fired two shots into a mattress where his roommate had been sleeping, police said. Freville then reportedly fired a third round into the cell phone his roommate was using to make a phone call to police.

Freville also shot and killed two pet birds before he left, police said.

The roommate told police that Freville told him he was on his way to a home in Lake Station, near the He Ain't Here bar, to purchase drugs.

Lake Station police, after getting the call from Hobart, began checking the area for Freville and spotted the stolen car parked in front of Brooks' house.

Sandilla, after hearing the information, headed to Lake Station with the roommate to retrieve the stolen car.

Instead, once on the road, Sandilla spotted Freville driving the stolen car and pulled him over near Menard's in Hobart.

Sandilla questioned Freville after he saw what appeared to be blood on both of his pants legs as well as several bullets and a gun inside the car, police said.

Ambulance personnel were called because initially police had thought Freville was injured. Freville initially told a Hobart firefighter he had been attacked by Brooks and had shot him, reports said.

Freville later reportedly told Hobart firefighter Robert Scott he thought Brooks was dead.

Hobart man charged with fraud for using a stolen credit cards

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Posted: Saturday, February 13, 2010 12:00 am | (4) Comments

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HOBART | A 21-year-old Hobart man, on probation for thefts in Schererville for which he was convicted last year, has been charged with fraud, identity deception and theft for buying items at Westfield Southlake Mall using a stolen credit card, Lt. Steve Houck said.

Shane Trentity Woodruff, also known as, Shane Lee Woodruff, was charged Thursday through Lake Superior Court.

Woodruff, accompanied by another man, confronted Hobart police officer Simon Gresser at the mall Jan. 16 and asked what time it closed.

Gresser, who was working security and knew Woodruff from prior contact, saw him approach a sales associate at Jewelry Crown and present credit cards but not make any purchases.

After the two men left the jewelry store, Gresser asked the clerk about the transaction and was told Woodruff had attempted to buy an item with a credit card and an identification card he said was from his aunt.

Gresser and Cpl. Paul Oliver approached Woodruff, searched him and found credit cards and an identification belonging to a woman who had reported them missing when her car was broken into at Strongbow Inn in Valparaiso.

The credit cards had been used to buy close to $700 worth of items at the mall, Detective David Grissom said.

Woodruff late last year had been ordered by a judge to stand at U.S. 30 and U.S. 41 carrying a sign that read "I am a thief" after admitting to breaking into cars near a Schererville bar. - By Deborah Laverty, The Times

Hobart sister, brother charged with drug overdose death

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By Deborah Laverty - deborah.laverty@nwi.com, (219) 762-1397, ext. 2223 | Posted: Wednesday, January 20, 2010 12:00 am | No Comments Posted

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HOBART | A 31-year-old Hobart woman was charged Tuesday in connection with the death of a man after she allegedly injected him with a lethal dose of heroin, police said.

Erica Hanas was charged in Lake County Superior Court with two counts of dealing in heroin and one of count of reckless homicide.

Her brother, Matthew Hanas, 23, also of Hobart, was charged with dealing in narcotics and assisting a criminal, according to court documents.

Erica Hanas and Matthew Hanas were identified last summer as drug dealers when the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administrative/High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area task force was brought into Hobart to investigate the possible distribution of heroin.

Hobart police were called to the 2100 block of Rand Street on July 23 because of an unresponsive man, later identified as William Hawkins.

Police spoke to Erica Hanas, who said Hawkins was taking Xanax and was drinking, and that she hadn't given him any drugs.

In later conversations with police, Matthew Hanas told police Detective Jeremy Ogden that he had observed his sister inject Hawkins on prior occasions and twice on the night he died.

Matthew and Erica Hanas told police they attempted to revive Hawkins by placing him in the shower, but their efforts failed.