***MEDIA ADVISORY***

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 18, 2018

NEW EVIDENCE DISCLOSED BY DRIVER IN BEARDSLEY AVENUE HIT AND RUN CASE RESULTS IN GUILTY PLEA BEFORE TRIALS

Media Contact: Vicki Elaine Becker (574) 296-1888

Leonard J. Grosswiler (43) of Elkhart, appeared in Circuit Court on Thursday morning, October 18, 2018. At that time, the State of Indiana filed an amended Information charging him with leaving the scene after an August 2017 accident on Beardsley Avenue in Elkhart which left three people dead and two others injured. Grosswiler entered a plea of guilty to all charges agreeing to a stipulated sentence of fifteen (15) years, with three (3) of those years suspended under the supervision of probation. Grosswiler had previously been charged only with Obstruction of Justice, a Level 6 felony, due to allegations he had destroyed evidence of the crime. His wife, Penelope A. Grosswiler (41), had been charged as the driver based upon information from two (2) eyewitnesses who thought the driver was female. However, new evidence which had previously been unavailable to the State was disclosed by the defendant which led to the change of charges and the plea.

Relying upon Leonard Grosswiler’s sworn testimony that he, in fact, was driving the couple’s Cadillac at the time of the accident rather than his wife, the State amended the original Information and allowed Leonard Grosswiler to plead guilty to all charges of Leaving the Scene of an Accident Resulting in Death, Serious Bodily Injury, and Bodily Injury, as well as Obstruction of Justice. Under Indiana law, the maximum possible sentence for these offenses could total twenty-one and one-half (21½) years of incarceration. However, allowing Grosswiler to plead guilty with specific terms ensures not only the conviction, but also the sentence, without the opportunity for an appeal.

Penelope Grosswiler also entered a plea of Guilty to Obstruction of Justice, a Level 6 felony, for her role in attempting to destroy evidence of the crime. Penelope was scheduled for trial the week of November 5, 2018, which has now been cancelled.

Sentencing for both Leonard and Penelope Grosswiler will be Wednesday, December 12, 2018, at 1:30 p.m. in Elkhart Circuit Court.

***

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