A Marion Superior Court judge sentenced a 17-year-old to 45 years in prison today for the attack and robbery of a bicyclist on the Monon Trail.Montaz Lewis was one of four teens arrested for the Oct. 6 incident, which happened after dusk near 28th Street on Indianapolis’ Near Northside. Lewis struck Darrell Arthur, 55, on the head with a wooden two-by-four board. The group then struck Arthur on the ground and robbed him of $12 and the bike, leaving him on the pedestrian trail.

Arthur would have died without the intervention of a neurosurgeon, Judge Mark Stoner said when he delivered the sentence. Arthur had been riding his bike south toward home after mowing a friend’s lawn.

He may never fully recover. “Now, he’s walking around slowly with a cane and has to hope his equilibrium doesn’t give out,” deputy prosecutor Mark Correll said.

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The other three teens pleaded guilty, and a jury convicted Lewis last month. He received the stiffest penalty — far more than the maximum 30 years he would have faced under a plea deal he initially accepted in May, but later rejected before signing an agreement.

This is just a sad situation all around.

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Carjackings continue to increase at a furious pace this year in Marion County despite police efforts since April to crack down on the crime.

During the first six months of this year, 152 carjackings were reported, compared with 62 through the same period last year — a 145 percent increase.

Carjackings briefly leveled off in April, the same month police assigned undercover units to investigate the crime. Police also sought help from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to try to determine whether a gang might be behind the spike.

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The analysis does show “hot spots” for carjackings in the city. The department declined to release a list of those locations. Lorah said the city’s six police districts have the information, but he said he did not know whether they have taken action on it.

I understand the undercover aspects, but wouldn’t it be helpful if the police informed us where these “hot spots” are?

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Police arrested two alleged robbers who led officers on a chase that ended with a crash into another vehicle on the Westside this morning.

A man pointed a gun at workers and stole about $80 from the McClure convenience store, 5301 Rockville Rd., at about 12:05 a.m., according to a police report. The suspect got into a Ford Ranger pickup truck driven by another man and fled, police said.

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Police arrested a 17-year-old who led them on a car chase this morning that began on the Far Westside and ended on the Near Southside.

Clermont Police Officer John Dierdorf spotted the teen and an accomplice burglarizing a Convenient Food Mart in the 9100 block of West 10th Street at 4:10 a.m., said Sgt. Matt Mount, a spokesman for the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department.

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The suspects were stealing cigarettes and cigars, Mount said.

This is proof that things haven’t changed a whole lot from back when I was in high school and proof that having ample “free time” isn’t always a good thing.

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Indianapolis – A jury has found an Indianapolis teenager guilty of leading an attack on the Monon Trail last October. The verdict could send Montaz Lewis away for 70 years.

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Indianapolis – An Indianapolis postal worker is in trouble with the law after police say he delivered himself to a police undercover drug-selling operation. And police don’t think it’s the first time the letter carrier tried to buy drugs.

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WNOU-FM (93.1) is taking a unique stand against drunken driving in Indianapolis — by reading the names of the previous week’s offenders every Monday during its morning radio show.

“You don’t want to hear your name on this list, do you?” co-host Marco Anselmo asked listeners during the premier segment Monday.

To the tune of Inner Circle’s “Bad Boys” song, hosts of “The Morning Mess” highlighted a handful of drivers charged with DUI last week and quoted details from incident reports.

Read the full story on the IndyStar website.

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