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Jury finds restaurant robber
guilty
By JENICA
SCHULTZ
Staff writer
Five months after bones were broken in
Debra Price's face during the Richard's Restaurant burglary,
she got to see her alleged attacker convicted of the
crime.
After approximately 45 minutes of
deliberation Thursday, the jury came back to the Whitley
County Circuit Court with a guilty verdict for Charles J.
Hardin, 28, on charges of burglary causing bodily injury, a
Class A felony, robbery causing serious bodily injury, a Class
A felony, and aggravated battery, a Class B
felony.
Police arrested Hardin after the blue
Mercury Cougar used in the crime was found burning in a field
north of Columbia City. Hardin's roommate, Jonathan Dean,
reported the vehicle stolen, but when police informed him that
the car linked him to the Mercury Cougar, he told them Hardin
said he had hit a woman and set the car on fire to destroy
evidence.
Price interrupted a burglar at
Richard's Restaurant around 3:30 a.m. April 25. Bruising and
blood on her face and neck showed Price was hit and choked by
the perpetrator.
Whitley County Prosecutor Matt
Rentschler built his case around blood and DNA found in the
right pocket of Hardin's jeans, matching a laceration on his
swollen right hand the day of the attack. A mixture of both
Hardin's and Price's DNA was found in the jeans' blood
stain.
"His hand, her blood, right hand, right
pocket - it fits like a glove," Rentschler said in his closing
argument. "The testimony only supplements the forensic
evidence in this case Š The forensic evidence is all you
need."
Throughout the three-day trial, defense
attorney Brad Voelz tried to cast doubt over Hardin's guilt by
connecting Dean to the crime. As a former Richard's Restaurant
employee, Dean had the knowledge to make a precise hit on the
establishment. He also led the police to the evidence in his
trailer at Lot 29 of Miami Village Mobile Home
Park.
Voelz claimed that Dean could have worn
Hardin's clothing to the crime scene, but none of his DNA was
found on the clothing.
Voelz also argued that no evidence
found at the crime scene itself connected Hardin to the crime.
A neighbor testified that he saw a man fitting Dean's physical
description leaving the getaway vehicle at the trailer park
immediately after the crime.
"This is not Jonathan Dean's trial,"
Rentschler said. "This is Charles Hardin's trial Š Witnesses
can lie. Witnesses can be mistaken, but blood doesn't
lie."
Dean, 25, already faces charges of
false informing for reporting the Cougar stolen. Rentschler
said Dean could face more charges related to the
burglary.
Once the jury read its guilty verdict,
Hardin, who has two prior felony convictions, pleaded guilty
to being a habitual felony offender. He was on probation at
the time of the Richard's Restaurant crime.
After the trial, several of Price's
sisters expressed their satisfaction with the guilty
verdict.
"I'm just relieved it's over more than
anything. She's been through a lot," said Price's sister Jody
Henry, who was also a witness in the case. Hardin was at her
house fixing her daughter's car the night before the
attack.
During her testimony, Henry said
Price's cheekbones and nose look different since the time of
the attack, and she is missing teeth.
Whitley County Circuit Court Judge
James Heuer, who presided over the trial, set Hardin's
sentencing for Oct. 17. Hardin could face up to 50 years for
each of the A felonies and 20 years for the B felony. He may
also receive up to an additional 30 years on his sentence for
being a habitual felony offender.
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