A Vermillion County man is behind bars, after a joint investigation led them to find he was in possession of several stolen items. Vermillion County Sheriff Mike Phelps said his officers were in the 900 block of South Ninth Street in Clinton to investigate a domestic dispute late Tuesday when they learned suspects had fled into a nearby woods with possible stolen items. A full box of merchandise was located at a Clinton residence with the address of Kadel’s Hallmark in North Terre Haute. Deputies, Clinton police and state troopers set up a perimeter and ran a canine sweep of the woods. About 100 yards inside the wood line, police found multiple items from the Hallmark store strewn across the ground, including cases of unopened Christmas items. Vigo County Central Dispatch was able to assist in the investigation and contact the owner of Kadel’s Hallmark were it was learned that the items located had been stolen from a storage container behind her store and she was unaware of the theft. Terre Haute police and the store owner went to Clinton for the burglary investigation. Police recovered more stolen items in the woods. 35 year-old Hugh B. Carpenter II of Clinton was later found at his residence and arrested on felony charges of possession of stolen items. Carpenter was taken to the Vermillion County Jail.
