A man from the Solsberry area who was arrested on Thursday, August 16, was scheduled to appear in court early this Thursday, August 23, to be formally charged with intimidation, for threats made against his own parents.

Shortly after a story was posted on GreeneStreets this past Wednesday, four additional criminal counts were filed. This story has now been updated.

Justin Dale Leon Franklin, 22, Solsberry, was arrested on Thursday, August 16, by Greene County Sheriff’s Deputy David Elmore and booked in to the Greene County Jail where his bond was set at $4,000 surety with ten percent cash allowed.

Deputy Elmore was first dispatched to a home in the Solsberry area on Wednesday, August 15, for a domestic in progress. The caller had told dispatch that his son had threatened to kill his wife if she called police.

When Deputy Elmore arrived at the residence, he reported finding multiple holes in the drywall and items scattered all through the home.

Deputy Elmore talked to the residents who said Franklin got very upset because he wanted a ride to town and his mother told him she would take him in a little bit after she finished something she was doing. Franklin allegedly started tearing up the house, demanding the keys to her vehicle.

Franklin was told multiple times he could not take the vehicle. He then allegedly picked his mother up to move her out of the way in order to get to the keys and she said he had hurt her back and hip in the process.

Franklin did manage to get hold of the keys and left in the vehicle, but before he left, he allegedly said he would kill his mother and everyone else if she called police. Earlier in the day, Franklin allegedly had told his father that he would kill him while he was asleep.

At some point, while the father was away from the home, Franklin returned to the home in the vehicle and the mother snuck out of the house and started walking down the road away from her home.

The father then called the sheriff’s department to advise what was happening, Deputy Elmore returned to the home, and he used his patrol vehicle’s PA system to tell Franklin to exit the house.

Franklin complied and was taken into custody.

Franklin has since posted $400 cash to bond out of jail, and was scheduled to appear in Greene Superior Court at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, August 23, to be formally charged with:

• Intimidation where the threat is to commit a forcible felony, a Level 6 felony. 

But on Wednesday, August 22, the day before the hearing, Greene County Chief Deputy Prosecutor Keven McIntosh filed four additional charges against Franklin, including:

• Possession of methamphetamine, a Level 6 felony,
• Domestic battery, a Class A misdemeanor,
• Unauthorized entry of a motor vehicle, a Class B misdemeanor, and
• Possession of paraphernalia, a Class C misdemeanor.

Along with the new charges, a supplemental probable cause affidavit was filed, written by Deputy Elmore, giving some additional details about the incident.

On the scene, once Franklin was in custody, the Indiana State Police arrived to assist. ISP entered the house to do a safety sweep and reported seeing an item of paraphernalia during the walk through. Franklin allegedly said nothing inside the house was his and he doesn’t live there.

Elmore obtained permission from the father to search the residence.

Elmore reported that Franklin had keys inside his wallet and officers located a safe inside the house. One of the keys opened the safe. Inside they found a pill bottle with his name on it, multiple payroll statements with his name and Selective Service paperwork, all with Franklin’s name. Along with these items, the safe contained cut straws with white residue and baggies with white substances, a glass smoking pipe with residue, and a Marlboro pack with multiple baggies containing a white substance. Field tests showed positive results for methamphetamine.

During his initial hearing, Franklin was charged with all five counts. The State was represented by Kevin McIntosh and Deputy Public Defender Ellen Martin was appointed to represent Franklin.