One suspect has already appeared in court. Three more are scheduled to appear early Thursday on various charges filed in connection with an incident of jacklighting and underage drinking.

When the incident was first reported, officers responded from Indiana DNR Law Enforcement, the Bloomfield Police Department and the Greene County Sheriff’s Department.

Indiana Conservation Officer Greg Swanson is the investigating officer into charges connected with alleged jacklighting, covered in this story. Bloomfield Deputy Marshal Jordan Allor is the investigating officer into charges of operating a vehicle while intoxicated, to be covered in an upcoming separate story.

ICO Swanson responded around 1 a.m. on Sunday, November 25, about a complaint of someone shining a spotlight from a vehicle and shooting a firearm. The caller said the vehicle was in the Plummer River Bottoms area of County Road 260 South and CR 100 West. The caller claimed he’d heard about 20 shots and saw a spotlight shining from the vehicle.

BPD Officer Allor advised Swanson he thought he had located the suspect vehicle northbound on CR 250 West. Allor attempted to catch up to it before it got to State Road 54 but he was unable to do that and he was not sure which direction the vehicle had gone. At that point, the two officers, joined by others, were driving around the area looking for the vehicle.  

Around 1:30 a.m., Greene County Sheriff’s Deputy Davis Aerne had located a white Dodge Ram pickup truck in a field north of State Road 54 on the east side of CR 250 West.

When ICO Officer Swanson got there, he talked to four suspects in the vehicle and asked them what they’d been out doing. One of them said, “We’re just out messing around.”

The four suspects included: Kyle Michael Boulanger, 19, of Linton, the driver; Dylan C. Stahl, 19, of Bloomfield; Nicholas R. Burcham, 20, of Linton; and Noah B. Burcham, 20, of Linton.

When Swanson asked if they had been seeing any deer, they said they’d seen a few. When he asked if they’d seen any bucks with the spotlight, they said no, just some does.

Swanson asked if they had any firearms in the truck and reported they all seemed unsure of their answers, indicating they were not sure if there was a firearm in the truck.

When asked to step out of the truck to make sure they didn’t have any weapons on them and to get their IDs, Swanson said he saw two rifles in the floorboard of the back seat, in plain view. He also noted Busch Lite beer cans scattered around the outside of the truck. And there was a spotlight in the front passenger seat.

BPD Officer Allor reported he found a bag of marijuana on the ground near one door and told Swanson that Nicholas Burcham had admitted it was his.

When Swanson talked to each person individually, he told them he wasn’t taking them to jail. He said he could smell the odor of alcohol on each and they all allegedly admitted to drinking while they were driving around the river bottoms and shining the spotlight.

Swanson reported that when he asked them about shooting, they all said they’d stopped near the curve at CR 100 West where they were shooting at beer cans and bottles. Swanson said they admitted to shining the spotlight with the firearm in the vehicle but said they didn’t have intentions of shooting any deer.

After Officer Allor administered portable breath tests, he reported Nicholas Burcham tested with a BAC of .06, Noah Burcham with .05, Stahl with .02 and Boulanger, who was the driver, at .10.

Boulanger was taken into custody by Officer Allor in a case of alleged OVWI.

In connection with the offense of jacklighting, investigated by Officer Swanson, criminal cases were filed against all four individuals:

• Kyle Boulanger, jacklighting from a vehicle – a knowing or intentional violation, a Class C misdemeanor,

• Dylan C. Stahl, illegal possession of an alcoholic beverage, a Class C misdemeanor, and jacklighting from a vehicle – a knowing or intentional violation, a Class C misdemeanor,

• Nicholas R. Burcham, possession of marijuana, a Class B misdemeanor, illegal possession of an alcoholic beverage, a Class C misdemeanor, and jacklighting from a vehicle – a knowing or intentional violation, a Class C misdemeanor, and

• Noah B. Burcham, illegal possession of an alcoholic beverage, a Class C misdemeanor, and jacklighting from a vehicle – a knowing or intentional violation, a Class C misdemeanor.

Boulanger has already had his initial hearing in the jacklighting case as well as in a case involving OVWI.

The other three are due in court on Thursday, December 20, for their initial hearings.

Swanson said photographs were taken and the marijuana and the firearms were seized as evidence.

Later, in daylight, Swanson said he checked the area where the suspects claimed they had shot at beer bottles and he did locate a Busch Lite beer can and an aluminum Bud Lite bottle which had been shot with what appeared to be a .22 caliber round.