HANCOCK COUNTY — An Indianapolis teen who has been accused of breaking into cars and stealing multiple vehicles in September had his initial hearing in Hancock County Circuit Court this week.
Carl Mays Jr., 18, faces a total of 17 charges. The most serious one is a Level 4 felony count of burglary of a dwelling, carrying a sentence of up to 12 years in prison.
Hancock County Circuit Court Judge Scott Sirk set a $10,000 cash bond after the prosecutor’s office asked for that figure, noting Mays already had already been freed on bond after being charged with similar crimes in Johnson County.
Court records there show Mays has been charged with Level 6 felonies for auto theft and resisting law enforcement as well as two misdemeanors after incidents in early July. That court revoked his bond Oct. 31 and issued a warrant for Mays.
The teenager was originally arrested Sept. 13 by the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department on suspicion of crimes in Greenfield. Investigators had connected the Indianapolis resident to a rash of car break-ins in Hancock County. At the time of the arrest, officials from the Greenfield Police Department indicated Mays was part of a gang taking part in the auto thefts.
Mays was identified in a probable cause affidavit as one of several teens who were responsible for multiple car break-ins in the county on Sept. 7, Sept. 12 and Sept. 13.
According to an affidavit, GPD investigators were able to track a stolen iPad via its GPS information to a house in the first block of North Tremont Avenue in Indianapolis. The computer was among items taken in the Greenfield break-ins.
After getting a search warrant, GPD officers met with IMPD officers to search the house. While there, GPD officers learned IMPD had been able to locate two stolen vehicles taken from Greenfield.
The house on Tremont Avenue was Mays’ home, the affidavit said. Also living there were a 14-year-old boy and a 15-year-old girl. After searching Mays’ room, investigators found items believed stolen from other thefts in Greenfield, the affidavit said.
Officers were able to find two iPads, a smartphone, a game controller, a man’s wallet, a designer woman’s wallet, a purse and a small firearm, the affidavit said.
Mays denied knowing about any property from Greenfield and told officers he shared the room with other people, according to the affidavit.
Officers also found two handguns — a Glock 27 and a Glock 22 — and a box of examination gloves.
The gloves are commonly used by criminals to avoid fingerprints and DNA transfer, the affidavit said.
The report showed the Glock 27 was stolen from a vehicle in Marion County; the Glock 22 was taken from a vehicle in Greenfield.
Inside Mays’ wallet, an officer found five credit cards, bank cards and identification cards issued to different people, including two with the names of people in Greenfield who reported cards stolen, the affidavit said.
The reports also said on Thursday, Sept. 17, a GPD officer found another stolen vehicle from Greenfield, and it was in the possession of three juveniles.
Video surveillance from Greenfield obtained by police indicate Mays was identified as a suspect in two separate incidents on Sept. 13, the affidavit said.
Mays is also facing seven Level 6 felonies, including multiple counts of conspiracy to commit auto theft; theft of a firearm; and criminal gang activity. He is also facing nine misdemeanors.
Sirk entered a not-guilty plea for the teen, who is set to be back in court for a pretrial conference. The status of the juvenile suspects could not immediately be determined.
