Columbus man faces more charges in Jackson County

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A Columbus man serving time in prison for a residential entry conviction is now expected to plead guilty to arson and theft charges he is facing in Jackson County.

Shane Scott Mosier, 29, was transferred Wednesday from the Putnamville Correctional Facility to the Jackson County Jail for a pretrial conference for a jury trial that had been set for 8:30 a.m. Feb. 22 in Jackson Circuit Court in Brownstown.

On Friday morning, though, Jackson Circuit Court Judge Richard W. Poynter agreed to cancel that trial and set the change of plea hearing for March 1.

Mosier was sentenced in September 2021 to two and a half years in prison by Bartholomew Circuit Court Judge Kelly S. Benjamin after he pleaded guilty to a Level 6 felony residential entry charge for his intrusion into the home of a Columbus police officer in September 2020.

When Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department officers arrived, the Columbus officer said he found an intruder standing in his kitchen wearing a mask with a gun protruding from the pocket of his sweat pants, according to the probable cause affidavit.

The officer said he didn’t recognize Mosier until he removed his mask. The Columbus officer also said he took the weapon off of Mosier before deputies arrived and told Mosier to go outside so they could talk.

According to police, Mosier gave them various names and identities — including the name of the person whose truck he is accused of stealing in Seymour, which was found outside the residence where he was arrested. When asked what he was doing in the officer’s home, Mosier said he was going to his friend’s house in the area and must have pulled into the wrong house.

In addition to the residential entry count to which he pleaded guilty, Mosier preliminarily was charged in Bartholomew Circuit Court with a Level 5 felony count of carrying a handgun with a prior felony conviction and a misdemeanor count of making a false identity statement. Those other charges were dismissed in a plea agreement.

The Jackson County charges stem from incidents in Seymour prior to his residential entry arrest.

Those charges are Level 4 felony arson, auto theft and theft of a firearm. The latter two charges stem from the stolen vehicle, which was taken from the 100 block of Tipton Street in Seymour. That vehicle contained a handgun, a shotgun, a bow and arrows inside, according to a probable cause affidavit.

The arson charge stems from the accusation, also on Sept. 12, 2020, that Mosier set fire to blankets and furniture in his uncle’s home where he had been staying in Seymour. When police responded to the report of arson, Mosier had already left the home. A short time later, the vehicle theft was reported, and a witness’s description of the suspect matched Mosier.

After Mosier was arrested in Bartholomew County, Seymour police were notified, and they came to the scene and interviewed him. The stolen vehicle was returned to its owner at the scene, according to a Seymour police narrative.

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