Nineveh man charged with felony theft, criminal mischief

A Nineveh man has been charged with felony level theft and criminal mischief after taking payments for construction work victims say he did not complete.

Det. Brian Shrader with the Brown County Sheriff’s Department took over an investigation for Deputy Mike Horn on Aug. 23, which Horn had been working on since last December.

The case concerned theft and possible home improvement fraud, after victims said Bruce W. Brock Sr., 67, of Nineveh, took payment, but did not complete home improvement work or the construction of a new home.

Shrader found one of the victims provided Brock with three separate checks in September of 2020 totaling $165,000 for the purpose of building the victim’s new home.

The victim told detectives she knew Brock and approached him about building her a new home in early September of 2020. She told police she had signed a contract, which Shrader found to be a quote sheet, according to the probable cause affidavit.

The quote showed a total cost for the home build would be $307,450. The victim explained that she wrote the first check for $5,000 to pay for Brock’s permit fees to build. Shrader found the cost from the planning and zoning office could have totaled less than $1,000.

According to the affidavit, Brock never had any plans or permits and none had been requested for the property. Shrader found that Brock was not a licensed contractor in Brown County for 2021 after failing inspections in the fall of 2020.

Brock began work on the property in September 2020 and posted progress photos on Facebook in November, December and January of 2021. None were posted after Jan. 5.

The victim learned that a lien was being placed on her property by a concrete company for nonpayment due to Brock allegedly not providing payment to the company. Text messages were obtained where Brock said he was waiting on the money to pay the contractor, but he had already received the money from the victim. The victim ended up paying the contractor in full out of her own money in addition to what she had paid Brock, the affidavit states.

Shrader found that permits were pulled for three other people or projects in 2020.

Another victim said that they had paid Brock nearly $30,000 out of their own pocket for work he did not complete.

Another victim paid nearly $20,000 for work that failed inspection. They told Shrader Brock had requested an additional $5,000 for “warranty,” which they did not pay.

Shrader requested an estimate and opinion for another contractor to quote repair costs for the work Brock had done at the first victim’s home build. They estimated it would require $50,000 to fix everything and damaged product at the jobsite would approach that same cost.

During the investigation, Shrader found banking records and accounts of Brock Builders, on which Bruce Brock Sr. was the only name listed.

Between Sept. 1, 2020 and Dec. 31, 2020 a total of $275,755.08 was deposited into the account and nearly $170,000 was withdrawn in cash. Checks were made to two different auto dealerships, for rent at a residence and attorney fees.

Two individuals who had received checks from Brock were renting property to him. The first individual said late rent payments were often made.

The second individual said that the “rent payments” were not for rent. The individual had hired Brock to do work for him when the individual’s home had caught fire. He provided Brock directly with more than $100,000 that he’d received from his insurance company as part of the fire settlement. The home project has been ongoing for more than two years and Brock had not yet finished, they told detectives.

The individual said that in lieu of any lawsuit that Brock would make rent payments since their insurance would not cover rent any further. They told detectives that Brock stopped payment after three months and they have not heard from him in six months.

Of the $165,000 that the first victim had paid Brock, the only work to show for it was trusses and concrete, which amounted to roughly $14,000.

Shrader made contact with Brock on Sept. 2 who told detectives he had gotten “into a situation,” hiring someone else to do framework.

That individual said that they quit because they were constantly waiting on materials and when they were received, Brock arrived with materials that were weathered.

Brock also attributed issues to the pandemic. He told detectives that the only plan for the home existed in his head, but he’d sat down with the victim to design it. She told detectives that meeting did not take place.

He told detectives he knew that there were issues with the build and that certain items would need paid for by the victim and that some money would need to be given back.

Brock also said he had a few other jobs getting ready to start and he would pay the first victim back then, but that he did not currently have the money. Shrader noted this statement was indicative of a Ponzi Scheme where a person takes money from another client to pay back another, which is a common home improvement fraud scheme.

Brock was charged with theft, Level 5 felony, and criminal mischief, Level 6 felony, on Sept. 23.

Driver and passengers OK after car overturns

Driver and passengers walked away from the scene of an accident with minor injuries after their vehicle overturned on Clay Rick Road.

Deputies with the Brown County Sheriff’s Department, Brown County (Nashville) Volunteer Fire Department and IU Health Lifeline ambulance were dispatched to a single-vehicle crash in the 1100 block of Clay Lick Road on Oct. 11, according to an accident report by Deputy Josh Stargell.

Upon arriving at the scene, responders found one vehicle overturned in the roadway. They made contact with the driver, Alyssa Taylor, 31, of Whiteland, who said they were traveling northbound at roughly 40 miles per hour when she came around the righthand curve and lost traction.

She told responders that the back of the vehicle started sliding then went onto the embankment on the east side of the road, before overturning and coming to a stop. It was raining at the time of the crash.

The driver had a small abrasion on her left hand and leg. The driver and two juvenile occupants were checked and cleared by EMS. They were not transported.

The vehicle was towed from the scene by Al’s Paint and Body.

One transported after 135 North head-on crash

One person was transported to the hospital on Oct. 18 following a head-on crash on State Road 135 North.

Brown County Sheriff’s Deputy Austin Schonfeld responded to the scene of the head-on crash that occurred while a southbound vehicle was turning into a driveway.

Chelsea Allen, 26, of Morgantown, was driving northbound when Welton Harris, 70, of Nashville, began turning into a driveway from the southbound lane in the 3300 block.

Harris advised that he was behind a horse trailer when trying to turn into the driveway and could not see Allen’s vehicle.

Allen was transported to the hospital for complaint of pain. Harris was not injured. Both vehicles were towed from the scene.

Driver avoiding crash with vehicle hits tree, pole

HAMBLEN TWP. — Brown County Sheriff’s deputies responded to an accident near the intersection of Sweetwater Trail and Beech Tree Road after a driver hit an utility pole while avoiding hitting another vehicle.

Police arrived and made contact with the driver, Anna Williams, 61, of Nineveh, who said she was traveling southbound on Oct. 15 on Sweetwater Trail in the fog when a vehicle traveling northbound was on her side of the road, according to an accident report by Deputy James Green.

Williams said she got off the edge of the road to avoid a crash with the other vehicle. She said she could not get her vehicle back onto the road and struck a small tree and a South Central REMC pole before the vehicle came to a rest.

The other vehicle did not stop, Williams said. She did not get a description. Williams was taken to Johnson Memorial Hospital by her sister for treatment for an arm injury. The vehicle was towed by Brown County Tire.