A Warsaw man is behind bars after stealing a Jeep and running from law enforcement.
According to charging documents from the Kosciusko County Prosecutor’s Office, on New Year’s Day, a deputy officer with the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Department responded to a welfare check with suspicious circumstances.
Kosciusko County Dispatch advised the deputy the caller was Larry Potts and he wanted police to check on his friends at an address in the county and he had left in their vehicle.
The officer arrived at residence and spoke with a man who said Potts had been at his house, grabbed the keys to his van and left. The man said he didn’t wish to press charges against Potts for stealing the van.
A short time later, county dispatch contacted officers to alert them of a male subject waving people down in front of Walmart. Dispatch advised they had received a call from a man, who said he had given the male a ride near the area of the airport in Warsaw.
A Winona Lake officer in proximity responded to the call and was flagged down by a male victim who told the officer a man had flagged him down on the road and allegedly stole his black 2017 Jeep. The officer saw the Jeep driving in front him and drove up behind it. The male driver jumped out of the Jeep and ran away.
The officer caught the driver and identified him as Larry Potts, 36, of Warsaw, who has a suspended driver’s license.
The deputy sheriff spoke with the owner of the Jeep who said he was driving and saw a man lying in the ditch waving his hand for help. The victim pulled over and started to open the driver side door and Potts opened the passenger door, jumped into the Jeep and forcibly shoved the victim out of his vehicle. The victim told police at this point he feared for his life.
Potts attempted to drive the Jeep away, however in newer Jeep models, when a door is open the vehicle goes into safety mode and locks the emergency brake. Potts held the accelerator to the floor, but the vehicle wouldn’t speed up because the emergency was brake engaged, leaving skid marks on the roadway.
Potts admitted to police to taking his friend’s van and told police the driver of the Jeep “got out of his vehicle”, so Potts jumped into the driver’s seat and stole the SUV.
Potts was booked into the Kosciusko County Jail on Jan. 2. He is being charged with robbery, a level 5 felony; auto theft, a level 6 felony; resisting law enforcement, a class A misdemeanor; and driving while suspended, a class A misdemeanor. His bond was set at $20,250.
Potts is a known habitual offender in Kosciusko County, according to court documents. He was convicted of auto theft on Jan. 19, 2016 in Kosciusko County Superior Court I.
