A man stopped along the side of the road to assist what he thought was a stranded motorist, then he quickly realized he was witnessing an alleged crime. Just before 12 p.m. Thursday, a man saw a silver car on the side of southbound I-65 near the 128 mile marker, along with a red pick-up truck and two men outside working on the silver car. When he pulled up and approached to offer help, a man was lying next to the car with a saw in his hand. The two men then got back into the red truck and drove away. The witness called 911 to report what he saw. A short time later the red truck was stopped by troopers on I-465 near 10th Street in Indianapolis.
A subsequent investigation led to the arrest of two Indianapolis men, 36 year old Robert Grant and 72 year old Paul Daniels. The two men allegedly stopped with the abandoned silver car on the shoulder of I-65 and attempted to cut the catalytic converter from under the vehicle. When they were approached by the witness they left without taking any parts from the car.
A freshly cut catalytic converter, possibly from a 2004-2010 Ford F-150 was also located in the back of the red pick-up truck the suspects were driving. Any person in the Indianapolis or Boone County area who may be the victim of a catalytic converter theft yesterday, Thursday is asked to contact the Indiana State Police at 317-899-8577. Please note, at this time we are specifically looking for a theft victim from the past 48 hours and from a Ford F-150, if your catalytic converter was stolen before then we are not able to connect it to this crime at this time.
Daniels and Grant were arrested and transported to the Boone County Jail. They face the preliminary charges of Attempted Theft and Criminal Mischief.
All charges mentioned in this release are merely accusations and probable cause for arrest. Formal charges will be determined by the Boone County Prosecutor upon review of the case