Schneider man charged
A Schneider man was charged Tuesday with Level 4 felony child molesting after an inappropriate relationship with an underage teen girl.
Robert Wlasak, 20, has not been apprehended. When arrested, he is ordered to be held without bail.
Lowell Police started their investigation Jan. 26. The girl said Wlasak messaged her on Snapchat in June 2024. By November, he went to her home, claiming he was 16.
The girl’s father was suspicious and confronted him. A woman later checked his social media and saw he was 20.
Over time, the girl said Wlasak touched her inappropriately and sent her nude pictures.
Wlasak, then a Schneider volunteer firefighter, took her to a 7 p.m. Jan. 13 public fire department meeting. Other firefighters noted how young she seemed. Wlasak said she was 18.
Wlasak told cops on Feb. 15 that he never dated the girl and “lost contact” with her. His mother was with him and signaling for him to end the interview.
A representative from the fire department could not be immediately reached Thursday.
Merrillville man charged
A Merrillville man faces charges after having an inappropriate sexual relationship with an underage girl.
Kaylan Haines, 21, was charged with four counts of child molesting, two counts of possession of child pornography and one misdemeanor.
Gary Police responded to the girl’s home at 1:30 a.m. March 27, 2023. Haines snuck into the girl’s room, then climbed out the window to evade her parents.
Officers returned twice on April 16. On the latter call, the girl snuck out and tried to meet Haines in Merrillville.
Haines later denied to Gary Police he knew the girl. Investigators subpoenaed messages and pictures from social media accounts.
He is in custody. Judge Samuel Cappas set his bail at $7,500 cash surety on Thursday.
Chicago man gets 10 years in ‘22 Hammond robbery
Federal Judge Gretchen Lund sentenced a Chicago man to 10 years and one month in federal prison for a July 2022 Hammond gas station stickup.
Trashawn Heard, 29, pleaded guilty in November in the U.S. District Court in Hammond to robbery and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence. He will complete three years supervised release after prison.
Court filings state on July 25, 2022, he walked into a Mobil gas station, 260 165th Place, pulled out a gun and robbed $148 from the clerks.
He was shot in the shoulder as he tried to go, dropping the cash and gun. He crashed the car and was arrested at a hospital, a release from Acting U.S. Attorney Tina Nommay states.
Feds add 14 months for no-show for mail theft sentence
Federal Judge Philip Simon sentenced a Chicago man to 14 more months in prison Thursday when he didn’t show up to start his sentence for stealing mail.
Nurldon Green, III, 32, pled guilty in November in the U.S. District Court in Hammond to failure to surrender for service of sentence. He was supposed to turn himself in April 4 but never did.
He heard “tales of the federal facility,” then “panicked and ran,” his lawyer Kerry Connor wrote in court filings.
He will also serve the original 27-month sentence.
Federal court records state Green was arrested in DeMotte by local police on Sunday, June 5, 2022, after he was caught dressed like a letter carrier and taking mail and checks from roadside mailboxes. The indictment accused him of taking mail from “company B” in DeMotte.
It does not allege he cashed any checks. Police found 60 pieces of mail in his mail satchel from DeMotte, Valparaiso, Michigan City, Effingham, Illinois, and Champaign, Illinois. Part of the plea in his original case bars federal prosecutors from filing additional charges for those locations.
Authorities believe he stole mail from February to June 2022.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Morgan prosecuted both cases.
Post-Tribune archives contributed.
mcolias@post-trib.com
