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News From The Hoosier State
David In Indy:
From WISH TV 8:
Southside Starbucks Hit By Ambulance
GREENWOOD, Ind. - An ambulance crashed into a suburban Indianapolis Starbucks early this morning, causing minor structural damage and shattering a window at the coffee shop.
The ambulance was not on an emergency call at the time and no patients were inside the vehicle.
The accident occurred as the ambulance was stopped in the Greenwood Starbucks parking lot about 1 a.m.
According to the Starbucks manager, a worker in the ambulance accidentally knocked the vehicle into gear as he reached under the steering wheel to retrieve several dropped items.
Starbucks briefly closed the store to walk-in customers, but the drive-in window remained open.
David In Indy:
From WISH TV 8:
Suspected Burglar Rescued, Arrested By Police
THORNTOWN, Ind. - The suspect's entrance was not exactly slick, but his exit certainly was.
A Lebanon teen reportedly attempted to rob the Thorntown IGA, but got stuck in the vent shaft. Police had to lubricate the suspect with vegetable oil from the store's shelves just to pull him out.
Adam F. Cooper, 19, was charged Wednesday with a class C felony for burglary and two class B misdemeanors for criminal mischief and false informing. His case is in Boone County Superior Court I.
According to his case report, Boone County Dispatch received a call from Stookey's restaurant owners Jon Stookey and Mike Hankins about 10:30 p.m. Tuesday. The two told police they heard what sounded like someone screaming for help from the store down the block on Main Street.
Upon investigation, Thorntown Police found a pair of jeans and shoes on the roof of the IGA. Police also noticed the roof exhaust fan above the store's deli had been removed and found Cooper 2 to 3 feet down the narrow shaft, apparently stuck.
Thorntown Deputy Marshal Chad Clendening said Cooper entered the shaft feet first.
"I'm sorry, (I was) trying to break in," Cooper reportedly told Clendening and TPD Officer Frank Clark.
Thorntown IGA owner Tina Railer said Cooper was stuck in the vent for at least an hour before someone heard him. Railer said the officers could not figure out where the screams for help were coming from until they went behind the store.
"He was stuck between the ceiling and the roof," Railer said.
Boone County EMS and the Thorntown Fire Department were called to assist. Cooper was beginning to have trouble breathing and was dehydrated.
Emergency workers were unable to contact Railer so they had to break through the store's glass front door to try to pull Cooper out from the inside. Clendening said they tried to yank him out by his feet, but he wouldn't budge. Emergency workers then cut Cooper's sweatshirt away and poured vegetable oil down the shaft and handed Cooper a rope. It took four men on the roof to pull him out.
"It was the last resort before they were going to cut him out," Railer said.
Cooper was dragged out of the vent about midnight and taken to Witham Memorial Hospital for examination.
Earlier that day, Cooper had been on a cleaning team that cleaned the store's vent. Police said Cooper told them that he moved through the vent just fine when he was working and figured he could use it to rob the store.
When asked why he intended the rob the store, Cooper reportedly told police that he was at his girlfriend's house in Thorntown and she had upset him, so he "was gonna go do something stupid."
Cooper told police he planned on stealing some cigarettes and something to drink.
Initially, Cooper said his name was Joseph E. Fugate. When asked why he gave a false name, Cooper said he was trying to hide his identity because he was afraid he was already wanted on a warrant.
Railer said this was the first time in the six years she's owned the store that anyone has attempted to rob it.
Clendening said while this story has something of funny ending, Cooper was fortunate that Stookey and Hankins heard him.
"He's really lucky someone heard him yelling," Clendening said. "Otherwise, we probably would have been removing a corpse the next morning."
This is Cooper's third arrest in Boone County in the past 15 months. His two previous arrests were both class D felony thefts.
If Cooper is found guilty on all three charges, his could face up to nine years in prison and fines up to $12,000. His trial date is set for April 21.
David In Indy:
From WISH TV 8:
Super 70 Reconstruction Project Almost Completed
INDIANAPOLIS - The rebuilding of a six-mile stretch of Interstate 70 on the east side of Indianapolis is nearly complete.
The Indiana Department of Transportation spokesman Will Wingfield says all lanes should be reopened in the next day or two. But he warns that commuters should still consider the area a construction zone.
INDOT says lane markers must still be placed in the westbound lanes.
The $175 million project began in February.
The project is the biggest single-season construction project INDOT has ever undertaken.
It runs from the eastern leg of Interstate 465 to downtown Indianapolis. It's the first major reconstruction on the road since it was built nearly 40 years ago.
David In Indy:
From WISH TV 8:
Computers Stolen From Indianapolis VA Hospital
INDIANAPOLIS - Police are investigating the theft of 3 computers from the Veterans Administration hospital in Indianapolis. Officials say 1 of the computers contained files on about 12,000 patients.
The VA says the computers were stolen from locked offices at the Roudebush VA Medical Center on Saturday.
VA officials say patient information is protected by passwords, but patients whose information may have been stolen are being contacted. The Department of Veterans Affairs is also offering one year of free credit monitoring to those affected.
Indiana Congressman Steve Buyer says he's upset that the VA has failed to comply with its own policy to safeguard veterans' information.
David In Indy:
From The Indy Channel website:
Midair Air Collision Over Indiana Averted Within Seconds
AURORA, Ill. -- A cockpit safety device is credited with helping pilots avoid a midair collision at 25,000 feet over Indiana.
According to a preliminary investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration, the planes came within seconds of colliding because of an error by an air traffic controller.
FAA spokeswoman Elizabeth Isham Cory said the Tuesday evening incident happened amid a shift change during a busy time at the Chicago Center radar facility in Aurora.
Officials said that controller directed a Midwest Airlines plane flying east from Milwaukee into the path of a United Express jet heading west out of Greensboro, N.C.
The collision-avoidance device in the Midwest plane went off in the Fort Wayne area, and an airline spokeswoman said the pilots executed an emergency climb to get out of the way.
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