Santa is not the only good guy with a beard this Christmas by Joe Awad

DeaRboRn county RegisteR

THE THEDCREGISTER.COM

THURSDAY, DEC. 6, 2018

Career burglar gets 88 years for ‘one-man crime wave’ By Joe Awad Managing Editor jawad@registerpublications.com

Don’t bother to use your mother as a outlook if you burglarize 17 houses because Dearborn Circuit Court Judge James D. Humphrey is likely to throw the book at you, especially if the elderly are among your victims. Humphrey, on Tuesday, Nov. 13, sentenced Jeffrey Henderson, 43, to 88 consecutive years in prison for committing the burglaries, and said that three elderly victims, ages 77, 74, and 65 was another aggravating

circumstance is his decision. The judge also said the sheer number of felonies, over 90 days between August and October 2017, and the fact that several were committed on the same day or close together warrant the stiff penalty. Humphrey pulled no punches, even including a quotation in what is called a judgement and pronouncement of sentence. “My heart sank realizing someone had been in our home and could have still been in there when I sent my daughter in alone,” says the pronouncement of sentence. For at least one of the burglaries,

S-D plan in works to tear down former school building complete the various documentation needed for the application.” memral@registerpublications.com According to the Indiana Office of Community The Sunman-Dearborn and Rural Affairs, the blight Community School Corpo- clearance program is a comration is still working on a munity block grant that “enplan to tear down the for- courages communities with mer school building on North blighted properties to focus Dearborn Road. on long-term community deThe corporation is work- velopment and revitalization ing with the Southeast In- through improving quality of diana Planning Commission place, generating jobs, and to complete an environmen- spurring economic revitaltal assessization. Elment of the igible projbuilding, ects include a c c o r d i n g “If it is sold to the wrong the removal to Superin- person, five years from of deteritendent Anorated or drew Jack- now, 10 years, it may abandoned son. fall apart it may look downtown T h e buildings b u i l d i n g , worse, they may not or vacant/ formerly unusable the North mow the grass.” industrial -Jamie Graf sites.” Dearborn Elementary Funding S-D School Board Member School but comes from now called the U.S. the Annex DepartBuilding, ment of Housing and Urban closed when the current, and Development’s Community much newer, North Dearborn Development Block Grant Elementary building opened program, and is administered on Sawmill Road. by Office of Community and The plan will come in two Rural Affairs. phases. Phase one will deterJackson attended the mine what types of environ- Tuesday, Nov. 20, Dearmental issues are at the site. born County Commissioners The second will development meeting to ask the county to a mitigation plan for those be the lead agency in applyissues. The schools received ing to the program. It may a grant from the SIRC to take two to three months to complete the assessments. complete the process. “This is so we can apply The former school buildfor the Blight Clearance Pro- ing has been on the school gram through the state of board’s agenda for quite Indiana, Jackson said. “The some time. The board apapplication must be made proved a request for proposal through a municipality, so for someone to lease or buy we have been working with the structure earlier this year, (Dearborn County) Planning See TEAR Page 8 and Zoning (Department) to By Marc Emral Staff Reporter

Henderson enlisted his mom as lookout, and told detectives he took steps to avoid arrest by eliminating evidence, including filing off screw drivers to leave no tool marks. “The court finds that the defendant committed this series of of burglaries in order to obtain funds for drugs and in general for the purpose of gaining money. As the result of this one-man crime wave, the defendant has harmed the safety, and security of seventeen families for his own gain,” wrote the judge. Henderson was on probation, and a nine-year suspended sentence, for

eight counts of burglary in Ohio County. He also was on probation, and under a two-year suspended sentence, for burglary in Dearborn. “The defendant’s criminal history began with a robbery as a juvenile in which he placed a metal object to a female’s throat. In addition, as a juvenile, the defendant was waived to adult court in 1993 for theft involving firearms at the age of seventeen,” wrote Humphrey. The “substantial” amount of money the criminal cost the county for mental health evaluations also was cited by the judge as a “sig-

nificant aggravating circumstance,” pointing out that experts determined Henderson was “malingering” and exaggerating symptoms to avoid what the judge calls “criminal responsibility.” Although Henderson pleaded guilty and gave up information regarding other burglaries he committed, the judge said he does not attach significant weight to the mitigating circumstances. “The evidence is clear that the defendant is a career burglar and a predator,” said Humphrey, stressing Henderson has committed 34 burglaries.

Santa is not the only good guy with a beard this Christmas

Cops raise money during No Shave November

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Combs Pizza, Aurora, is selling t-shirts to support Cops & Kids.

South Dearborn Schools Resource Officer, Dearborn County Sheriff ’s Deputy Ryan Brandt, shows the beard he grew for No Shave November.

By Chandra L. Mattingly Staff Reporter

has! … It’s really been huge for us,” said Taylor. Participants included officers from Aurora Police Department and the Dearborn County Sheriff’s Department, including South Dearborn Schools school resource officer Ryan Brandt. The sheriff allowed deputies to participate as long as they raised an initial $100, said Brandt. “It’s an awareness campaign to let your hair grow in support of those people who lose their hair due to having cancer,” and to raise money for Cops & Kids, he said. Brandt had raised $640 early in the month with expectations to raise at least $700 total. His sponsors included a number of friends, family and Facebook friends, he said. But that awareness included his own thoughts of a Facebook friend who recently lost his life. “He battled cancer for seven years,” said Brandt, adding he was participat-

cmattingly@registerpublications.com

You might not think beards and mustaches would have much in common with Christmas gifts for kids (aside from Santa’s big bushy white one) but this year, at least, they did. Area law enforcement officers participated in No Shave November, and the money they raised doing so has gone to the Cops & Kids program sponsored by Laughery Valley Fraternal Order of Police. “I don’t know how many officers participated,” said Greendale Officer Pam Taylor, who coordinates Cops & Kids. But the No Shave effort brought in $1,200 in addition to the initial $4,350 Cops & Kids fund, for a total of $5,562, she said. “Some of these guys are very surprised that it’s grown out the way it

ing in No Shave November in memory of that friend, Charles, even though the money raised is going to kids’ Christmas presents rather than cancer research. Dearborn County Sheriff’s Deputy Adam Ziegler, who “kind of spearheaded” the event, said Dearborn County Sheriff Michael Kreinhop gave “instant approval” when asked if deputies could participate in No Shave November. Kreinhop’s rules OK’d mustaches, which already were allowed, and beards, but “no goofy looking facial hair,” said Ziegler. “We had several guys that raised $700 to $900,” and one raised around $1,300, said Zeigler. Most ponied up the initial $100 out of their own pockets. The 17 participants included Hidden Valley Lake deputies. In addition, Dearborn County Dispatch raised another $300.

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G-dale community garden will bloom with some extra green The Dearborn Community Foundation (DCF), Inc. recently awarded a $1,000 Lauren Hill Make A Difference Grant to the City of Greendale to help with its community garden project. As a part of its 20th Anniversary Celebration, DCF is awarding 20 proactive grants of $1,000 each to charitable organizations in Dearborn County throughout 2018. Each of the Foundation’s 15 volunteer Board members is recommending a grant. Five lucky attendees at DCF’s 20th Anniversary Dinner in late July also were randomly drawn to recommend a

$1,000 grant. The $1,000 grant to the community garden project was recommended by DCF Board member Tim Russell of Greendale. Russell, who knows the volunteers involved in the project, recommended the grant for the Southeast Indiana Community Gardens project in Greendale because it’s an outreach into the community to help others. “The people involved with the community garden are so excited to reach out into the community to help others,” said Russell, who is minister at Greendale First Church of

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Christ. “That really meant something to me, so it was an easy grant to recommend. It also can provide an opportunity to garden for those who don’t have a place to do so.” The Greendale Community Garden is located on Ludlow Street on the old Greendale Middle School site. The City of Greendale is providing the location for the volunteer-driven community garden. The community garden project is aimed at providing an inclusive environment for all members of the Dearborn Community Foundation Board member Tim Russell, right, delivers a $1,000 community to work together grant check to City of Greendale Mayor Alan Weiss, left, and Clerk-Treasurer Mary Jo “Joey” Lynch. The DCF grant monies will help volunteers with Greendale’s community See BLOOM Page 8 garden project.

WEATHERforecast

Today: High: 44 Low: 33 Friday: High: 42 Low: 26 Saturday: High: 39 Low: 30 Sunday: High: 37 Low: 32

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2018

THE DEARBORN COUNTY REGISTER

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but no one made a bid. In August, the board decided that it did not want to take the chance that someone would buy the building and use it for reasons that would not fit the area. “If it is sold to the wrong person, five years from now, 10 years, it may fall apart it may look worse, they may not mow the grass,” board member Jamie Graf said then. The building sits on about six acres on North Dearborn Road near Sawdon Ridge Road. The football field that is next to the property is not included in the plan. The corporation has a lease with the Sunman Dearborn Youth Athletic Association, until 2032, according to district lawyer Frank Kramer, for the association to use football and baseball fields at the Annex Building. Once phase two of the plan is finished, Lancer Beebe LLC, an architectural and planning firm in Indianapolis, will draft demolition specifications. Then the cor-

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toward improving food and social insecurities, physical and emotional wellness, and nutritional and ecological awareness. For 20 years, DCF, a 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt public charity, has helped donors’ dreams come true by safeguarding endowments for the community through contributions large and small. Grants awarded by the Dearborn Community Foundation support the needs and interests in Dearborn County in the fields of Art, Culture and Humanities, Community and Public Benefit, Education, Environment and Animal Protection, Human Services, Public Safety and

poration can apply for the blight clearance program. “It is a competitive grant. It is up to $500,000 and the only requirement is that we match 10 percent of it,” Jackson told the board last month. The blight clearance program is accepting applications until money in the program runs out, but there made be another round of grants. “(The demolition plans have) been at a steady pace and it’s going to take some time,” Jackson said. “It’s going to be January before we can apply for the grant. Hopefully we will have something resolved by spring … and put out for bids.” The board in September “expressed their obligation to return the property to its original condition and remove the building,” according to minutes from that meeting. A vote at that meeting to demolish the building regardless of the costs failed. The building costs the district $41,379 a year for general upkeep (electric, water, gas). The next closest building is Bright Elementary, which cost $102,267, but that building is in use. Youth Programs. In January 2009, DCF received the nation’s highest philanthropic standards for operational quality, integrity and accountability: the seal of approval from the National Standards for U.S. Community Foundations Program operated by the Council on Foundations (COF), a national professional association based in Washington, D.C. DCF was reconfirmed for the National Standards by the COF in 2014. To learn more about DCF, call 812-539-4115, stop by the office at 322 Walnut Street in Lawrenceburg, or visit the Foundation website at www.dearborncf.org. If you are interested in making a contribution to DCF, visit our website’s “Give Now” page to donate on line and to learn other giving options.

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Other donors to Cops and Kids included the Ohio County Community Foundation, which provided $5,000, with Rising Sun Ohio County Schools staff providing names of needy youngsters; Dearborn Community Foundation, which provided $8,000, with the focus on Lawrenceburg and Dearborn County; the Lions Club; Party at Traz; the Kevin Lynch Family; the Moores Hill America Legion, which provided $5,000 slated for Moores Hill youngsters, with the elementary school helping with names; and SIEOC. “Kimberly Elliott and staff there (SIEOC) are instrumental in obtaining the names of the children and compiling the lists for us,” noted Taylor. “... There’s all kinds of donors all over the county.” Combs Pizza and Bank Town are working to get donations by selling T-shirts for a $20 donation, she said. Combs Pizza has paid for the shirts and is donating the entire amount of the sale donations to Cops & Kids. Law enforcement officers will shop with the youngsters and their families Saturday, Dec. 8, at the Aurora Walmart, said Taylor. So far, 298 kids have been invited, involving 127 families. Each child receives clothing and a toy or fun item. “McDonald’s is going to feed the children afterward,” said Taylor. And Queen City Candy has made a large donation of candy to be distributed to the kids. “That No Shave November came through at just

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Donations for T-shirts for sale at Combs Pizza go 100 percent to Cops & Kids, a Christmas gifts program for needy youth. the right time,” she said. “I didn’t think this whole thing would fly and it did.” Anyone else who would

like to donate to Cops & Kids may send donations to Laughery Valley FOP, P.O. Box 3763, Lawrenceburg

IN 47025, or drop them off at the Greendale Police Department, 480 Ludlow St., Greendale 47025.