A 19-year-old eastern Greene County man was all set to get what looked like a pretty good deal on a couple of misdemeanor charges. But during his change of plea hearing on Wednesday, he allegedly showed up in court with numerous controlled substances in his system.

Steven Adam Taylor II, now 19, lives in an area of eastern Greene County that has a Bloomington mailing address. Taylor was first arrested back on February 10 when he was 18, and then charged with illegal possession of an alcoholic beverage, a Class C misdemeanor, and criminal mischief, a Class B misdemeanor.

When Taylor was taken into custody at the Greene County Courthouse this Wednesday, November 7, it marked the fourth time he’s been arrested in this case. The court records on this case read like a story on how to mess up a good deal.

It started after 11 p.m. on February 9 when a woman called the sheriff’s department to report Taylor had kicked in the front window of her house, also located in eastern Greene County.

Greene County Sheriff’s Deputy Davis Aerne responded and when he talked to the woman, she told him Taylor had come to her house and was trying to get in. She said when she opened the door, Taylor had a large container in hand and was offering her alcohol. She said he wouldn’t leave and kept putting his arm in the door to prevent her from shutting it. She said she shoved him away, told him she was calling police and shut the door.

Aerne wrote in a probable cause affidavit that the woman said Taylor then yelled obscenities, called her a bad name, kicked the living room window in, then took off running. When she let her dog outside, she said she could see Taylor running away across the road. Her dog took off after him but she called the dog back.

Deputy Aerne reported the window was broken from the outside and there was a large amount of broken glass inside the house. The woman gave him a description of the clothing Taylor was wearing and said he was covered in mud.

GCSD Deputies Zachary Goad and David Elmore arrived in the area to assist and Taylor was located walking toward his own house. Aerne said Taylor was wearing the clothing described by the woman and he had mud on his boots, jeans and jacket.

Taylor allegedly said he was walking to go catfishing and he’d been with two other people but when the deputy talked to them, he learned they’d been sick and were going to bed with no intentions of going catfishing.

Deputy Aerne suspected Taylor had been drinking and reported Taylor tested at .129 BAC on a portable breath test.

Taylor was booked in to jail early February 10. His bond was set at $500 surety with ten percent cash allowed and he was released after posting just $50 cash.

A case was filed by Deputy Prosecutor Cheryl Jackson Stone and at his initial hearing, he was charged with the two misdemeanors and Defense Attorney Tim Shonk was appointed to represent him as a public defender.

After the defense requested a couple of continuances, Taylor was supposed to be in court for a pre-trial conference in early August but he failed to appear and a warrant was issued for his arrest. He was taken into custody on August 14 by Bloomfield Deputy Marshal Jordan Allor. This time his bond was set at $5,000 surety with ten percent cash allowed. He posted $500 cash and was released the next day.

Another pre-trial conference was then scheduled later in August. He failed to appear. This time, he wasn’t taken into custody until October, and his bond increased again, this time to $10,000 surety with ten percent cash allowed.

It would have taken $1,000 cash to be released. He didn’t post bond after this arrest and by mid-October, he entered into a negotiated plea agreement. After the agreement was filed in court, Taylor was released from jail on his own recognizance.

Under the terms of the agreement, Taylor was going to plead guilty to the lesser charge of illegal possession of alcohol, a Class C misdemeanor, and the state was going to drop the charge of criminal mischief.

Taylor was expected to be sentenced to 60 days in jail with all of it suspended except for 14 days and he was going to get credit for time already served. He would then be on probation for one year and would be ordered to pay $334.13 as restitution for the window.

This would have all been concluded this past Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. at the change of plea and sentencing hearing in Greene Superior Court with Judge Dena Martin presiding.

Taylor did show up, but according to court records, there were concerns about Taylor’s ability to understand the proceedings.

Judge Martin ordered Taylor to go to the Greene County Probation Office, also located in the Courthouse, for a drug screen then return to the courtroom at 1:15 p.m.

When the hearing reconvened, the court reported the drug screen showed Taylor was under the influence of numerous controlled substances.

Taylor was told he had violated the conditions of his release on his own recognizance and he was taken into custody by Courthouse Security Officer Patrick Fulford. By 2:08 p.m., Taylor was back in jail.

Judge Martin ordered the drug screen specimen be sent to a lab for verification.

Taylor’s now being held without bond, test results are pending, and so is this case.