The suspect accused of driving from northern Indiana into Greene County last December, stealing a pickup truck and trailer from a Greene County business, loading up his own vehicle on the trailer then driving off, was in jail in Daviess County when charges were filed against him in Greene County in February. He’s got a few cases pending against him in Daviess County. He was booked into the Greene County Jail last Tuesday, May 4, and he appeared in Greene Superior Court for his initial hearing last Thursday, May 6.

Jan Michael McAtee, 29, Vincennes, Ind., was arrested on a warrant issued on a preliminary charge of felony theft. His bond was set at $8,000 surety with ten percent cash allowed. Greene County Sheriff’s Deputy Michael Coy was the arresting officer.

Since the hearing, he has posted $800 bond and been released here then transferred to Tippecanoe County where he has another couple of cases pending. He has now posted bond there and been released. He’s scheduled to be back in court in Greene County in June. For more background information, see the story below.

Story previously posted on Greene Streets on February 24, 2021:

Suspect accused of stealing a truck and trailer from a business in December

There’s a warrant out for a suspect who’s currently incarcerated in another county. He’s accused of driving into Greene County from up north, stealing a pickup truck and trailer from a Greene County business, loading up his own vehicle on the trailer and driving off. The truck and trailer were recovered in a GCSD investigation.

Jan Michael McAtee, 29, was arrested on Friday, December 18, in Daviess County as a result of investigations involving McAtee that were underway in both Daviess and Greene counties.

A warrant is out for the arrest of McAtee in Greene County, but he has not posted bond and remains incarcerated in the Daviess County Jail. At some point, he is expected to be transferred to Greene County to face charges here.

Deputy Michael Coy of the Greene County Sheriff’s Department was on the scene when McAtee was arrested as a result of Deputy Coy’s investigation into the theft of a truck and trailer from a business in Greene County, and an investigation into thefts in Washington by the Daviess County Sheriff’s Department.

Deputy Coy responded early Thursday morning, December 17, after an employee at Hutson Inc. John Deere reported a truck and trailer had been stolen from their property. Hutson’s John Deere has a mailing address in Elnora but it is located in Greene County on State Road 57 between Elnora and Newberry.

Deputy Coy learned that at 4:58 a.m. that day, a red Geo Tracker drove through the rear lot between two buildings and about three minutes later, the lights came on to a 2013 white Chevrolet 3500 HD 4WD Silverado single cab truck with a regular bed owned by Hutson. Another few minutes later and the Geo Tracker was loaded onto a 2019 Corn Pro equipment trailer, with a value in excess of $4,750, and the truck then left the property pulling the trailer with the Geo Tracker.

The truck, which was equipped with a tracking device, went south on SR 57. By 5:43 a.m., it was in Washington, Ind., but at that point, the tracker stopped tracking and may have been disconnected.

One set of keys was still in the building and the employee was not sure if another set had been left in the truck, but no entry was made into their buildings and alarms did not go off.

The next day, Deputy Coy viewed video captured by video surveillance in Plainville that showed the truck and trailer with the Geo Tracker going by, southbound on SR 57.

By 11 a.m. on December 18, Deputy Coy was at the Daviess County Sheriff’s Department sharing information and about a half-hour later, Deputy Coy was advised that Daviess County Sheriff’s deputies were on the scene working a theft case at Belt Tech in Washington.

When Deputy Coy arrived at Belt Tech, an employee there showed him video of a Hutson truck backing up to three of Belt Tech’s pick-up trucks and an individual loading items from the trucks into the Hutson truck.

Early that afternoon, Daviess County deputies had located the truck and trailer from the Hutson case at a storage facility in Washington. When Deputy Coy arrived at that location, Jan McAtee was sitting on the ground in handcuffs.

McAtee allegedly told a story about how he’d just gotten out of jail in Lafayette a few days earlier after spending six days in jail, and his brother drove him down here. He said he paid a guy to borrow the truck which he picked up at a gas station in Plainville, in order to drive around and pick up a few “things” at some houses. He said the tools were already in the truck when he picked it up.

During a later interview, conducted by Daviess County deputies at the Daviess County Jail, McAtee allegedly admitted he was the one who drove the Geo Tracker from Lafayette and he stopped at Hutson’s and got the truck and trailer and loaded up the Geo Tracker by himself then drove to Washington.

In Daviess County Superior Court, McAtee was charged with burglary, a Level 5 felony, and theft, a Class A misdemeanor.

He has two other cases pending against him in Daviess County: In one, he’s been charged with dealing in methamphetamine in an amount of 10 or more grams, a Level 2 felony. In the other, he’s been charged with: Theft where value of property is between $750 and $50,000, a Level 6 felony; theft, a Class A misdemeanor; possession of methamphetamine, a Level 6 felony; and possession of paraphernalia, a Class C misdemeanor.

Since McAtee has been incarcerated in Daviess County, the criminal case against McAtee was not filed here until last week.

A warrant for his arrest was issued last Wednesday, out of Greene Superior Court.

When he is transported to Greene County and appears in court for an initial hearing, he will be charged with two counts of theft, where the value of the property is between $750 and $50,000. Both are Level 6 felonies.

That’s not all.

There are two warrants out for McAtee’s arrest in Tippecanoe County.

One is for failure to appear for a hearing on charges of: Carrying a handgun without a license, a Class A misdemeanor; conversion, a Class A misdemeanor; possession of paraphernalia, a Class C misdemeanor; and failure to signal for turn or lane change, an infraction.

The other warrant issued out of Tippecanoe County is for failure to appear for a hearing on charges of: Auto theft – theft of entire automobile, a Level 6 felony; possession of methamphetamine, a Level 6 felony, possession of a controlled substance, a Class A misdemeanor; and possession of paraphernalia, a Class C misdemeanor.

This story will be updated with a mug shot when McAtee is booked into the Greene County Jail.