Last week a utility worker called the law on a suspect who allegedly stole a chainsaw off the utility company’s truck. A deputy responded and found the suspect in a nearby woods, with a bottle of vodka.

Christopher Richard Porter, 24, Solsberry, was arrested by Deputy Alan Jackson of the Greene County Sheriff’s Department last Wednesday, July 8.

Deputy Jackson was dispatched after 3 p.m. to a location on North Wilderness Church Drive in the Solsberry area after an employee for Utilities District of Western Indiana REMC contacted the sheriff’s department and said a man was in the back of an REMC truck stealing a chainsaw. They said he was tall, blonde, skinny, and intoxicated.

The suspect was later identified as Christopher Porter.

When Deputy Jackson arrived, he talked to another REMC employee who said the suspect was drunk and had fallen asleep near their worksite then woke up and stole a chainsaw from the bed of a truck. The employee said Porter then walked off with the chainsaw and hid it in some bushes by a wood line. So the employee went over and got the chainsaw and told Porter to leave. He said Porter then walked north on the road, then fell asleep in a patch of tall grass. He was able to give the deputy a description of Porter and the clothes he was wearing.

Deputy Jackson spent some time looking for Porter then saw him running in a wooded area. There was a residence nearby and an individual from the residence was pointing in the direction of the woods toward the runner.

When the deputy entered the wooded area, he reported finding Porter with a bottle of vodka. He was taken into custody. He denied taking a chainsaw.

Records showed Porter was wanted on warrants issued out of both Owen and Sullivan counties.

GCSD Deputy Camron Frye also responded to assist on the scene and Deputy Jackson said Porter tried to bribe both of them by saying he would give them both some money if they would set him free.

Porter was booked into jail before 6 p.m. His bond was set at $4,000 surety with ten percent cash allowed but he was being held without bond for Owen County.

He’s facing a preliminary charge of theft where value of property is between $750 and $50,000, a Level 6 felony. Deputy Jackson reported the value of the Stihl chainsaw that was taken was approximately $1,300.

To find previous story on Porter, click on the tag “Christopher R. Porter” belong this story.