North Judson Man Sentenced to Eight Years in Starke Circuit Court

 
 
A North Judson man pleaded guilty to the charges against him and received a discretionary sentence in the Starke Circuit Court yesterday afternoon. Henry Allen, 53, pleaded guilty to a charge of Criminal Recklessness with a Deadly Weapon, a Class C felony, and was sentenced to eight years in the Department of Corrections.

Henry was arrested in September 2012 after a bullet fired from his gun went through the bedroom window of his neighbor’s home and grazed a young girl’s back. Donnie Greer told police that shortly after midnight he heard a crash in his daughter’s room and when he went to investigate he found a bullet hole in the window and his daughter injured.

Police canvassed the area and determined that the shot may have originated from a neighbor’s home. When they spoke to the neighor, Allen, he told police that he had fired at his neighbor’s house because he claimed they had shot at him first. Police believed Allen to be impaired and took him into custody. Officers reportedly found ammunition in his pants pocket that belonged to the gun that he fired at his neighbor’s house. The gun and other evidence was taken from Allen’s house and from the crime scene.

Allen told the court in March that he would plead guilty with the sentencing to be made at the court’s discretion during a jury status hearing 12 days before his trial was to be heard in the court. He reportedly refused to participate in a mental health evaluation by Porter-Starke Services in February 2012 and was scheduled for a trial.