A 57-year-old Bartholomew County man faces preliminary charges of burglary and theft in connection with an incident reported Dec. 26 in the Vallonia area.
The arrest of Marty James Maggard of Elizabethtown late New Year’s Day on the Level 5 felony charges stem from an investigation by the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department aided by the help of the homeowners and social media.
The investigation began with the reported theft of two chainsaws from the detached garage of a home in the 5000 block of South County Road 25W in Driftwood Township.
The suspect and his vehicle were captured on home video, and the owners of the property posted photos from that video on social media, according to a news release from the sheriff’s department.
Responding to the social media post, a resident of the Martinsville area gave police the name of a possible suspect, police said.
Detective Stan Darlage was able to track the vehicle to a person in Elizabethtown, and the Elizabethtown marshal located the suspect’s vehicle Wednesday, police said.
Jackson County Officer J.L. McElfresh and Reserve Officer John Hinton went to the town south of Columbus on Wednesday and met with the town marshal.
Maggard was then arrested and taken to the Jackson County Jail in Brownstown. The chainsaws have not been recovered, police said.
Maggard was booked into the jail at 11:21 p.m. Wednesday and being held without bond pending his initial hearing.
A Level 5 felony is punishable by one to six years in prison upon conviction. The advisory sentence is three years.