***MEDIA ADVISORY***

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 03, 2016

VIOLENT ROBBER DOESN’T GET AWAY WITH ANYTHING

Media Contact: Curtis T. Hill, Jr. (574) 296-1888

In June of 2015, Johnathan Evans, 31, of Elkhart, lured a local private retailer into the back room of his store where Evans viciously beat the 62 year old victim with a tire iron and choked the victim until he lost consciousness. Evans made off with the victim’s wallet, and a laptop computer and cash from the store. Less than two hours after the robbery, Evans was documented using the victim’s credit card at local stores to purchase several items. Shortly thereafter, police located Evans and found the victim’s wallet, his laptop computer in Evans’ car. The victim was also able to identify Evans in a photographic array.

The Elkhart County Prosecuting Attorney filed formal charges against Evans which proceeded to a jury trial on August 1, 2016, in the Elkhart Circuit Court. Deputy Prosecutor Eric Ditton represented the People of the State of Indiana by presenting evidence of Evans’ possession of all of the victim’s stolen property, the tire iron that had been left at the scene, and the victim’s graphic testimony of the beating and injuries Evan’s caused him.

After a very short deliberation, the jury unanimously found Evans guilty of Robbery Resulting in Serious Bodily Injury, a Level 2 felony, as well as two counts of Credit Card Fraud, both Level 6 felonies. Sentencing will be held in the Elkhart Circuit Court on September 1, 2016, in front of Judge Terry Shewmaker. Evans faces a possible maximum sentence of 35 years at the Indiana Department of Correction.

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“Under Indiana law, all persons arrested for a criminal offense are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.”