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SCOTTSBURG, Ind. (Inside INdiana Business) — Iowa-based Engineered Plastic Components Inc. is planning to expand its operations in Scott County. The company, which makes injection molded plastic products for a variety of industries, says it will invest more than $7 million for new equipment at its facility in Scottsburg and create 60 jobs over the next five years.

EPC acquired the 120,000-square-foot manufacturing plant from Viking Plastics earlier this year. The company currently employs more than 200 at the facility.

“We’re pleased to increase our presence in Southern Indiana,” Reza Kargarzadeh, chief executive officer of EPC, said in a news release. “This expansion will provide additional production capacity to meet the increased demand we are experiencing from our customers in the automotive industry. We’re excited to add to our existing workforce with steady, good paying positions.”

EPC did not provide a time frame for the installation of the new equipment.

The Indiana Economic Development Corp. has offered EPC up to $2.5 million in conditional tax credits, which the company will not be eligible to claim until Hoosier workers are hired for the new jobs. The Scottsburg City Council will also consider additional incentives that would save EPC nearly $215,000 over the next five years.

AUSTIN, Ind. (WISH) — A 41-year-old man was found dead after a house and utility shed fire in southern Indiana, state police said.

Paul Ray Collins’ body was found in the front-yard shed after firefighters extinguished the blaze.

Police and fire authorities were called shortly before 5 a.m. Tuesday to the fire in the first block of North Fourth Street in Austin. That’s a city of about 4,100 in Scott County in southern Indiana.

Indiana State Police did not say in a news release whether the death was suspicious but said detectives are investigating the death.

No cause of death has been determined. Collins lived in Austin, which is about 70 miles south of Indianapolis.

SCOTTSBURG, Ind. (AP) — A man who authorities say started a southern Indiana police chase that led to an officer’s death is awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty in the case.

Court records say 35-year-old Benjamin Eads of Freedom entered the pleas in mid-February in a Scott County courtroom. The charges include auto theft and resisting law enforcement, which led to a death. His plea agreement says he’s expected to get 35 years in prison and a year in jail.

Sentencing is scheduled for March 8.

Authorities say Eads fled a traffic stop on Dec. 12 , triggering a police chase during which Charlestown Officer Benton Bertram’s vehicle struck a tree. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

State police say the 33-year-old Bertram was a Charlestown officer for nine years.

SCOTT COUNTY, Ind. (WISH) — One man is facing multiple charges after a police officer died in southern Indiana in an attempt to apprehend him.

Officials were initially notified around 10:20 p.m. Wednesday night of a pursuit of a suspect in Clark County after Officer Benton Bertram attempted to stop a vehicle belonging to 35-year-old Benjamin Eads for a traffic violation.

Eads fled north on State Road 3 into Scott County. As the pursuit continued into State Road 3 and State Road 56 of Scottsburg, officer Bertram’s vehicle left the roadway and struck a tree in the front yard of a nearby home. Officer Bertram was pronounced dead on the scene.

Eads was later located in Clark County. He faces charges of resisting law enforcement causing death, resisting law enforcement and theft. 

Eads remains in Scott County Jail. 

Officer Bertram was a 9-year veteran of the Charlestown City Police Department. 

SCOTTSBURG, Ind. (WISH) — A 19-year-old North Vernon man faces rape and child sex charges after he allegedly forced himself on a 15-year-old girl he had met on a social media website, state police said Friday.

Jon Wesley Anthony faces charges of rape by force, sexual battery and two counts of sexual misconduct with a minor, Indiana State Police said in a news release. The charges were filed in Scott County, where the girl lives.

The Indiana Department of Child Services in Scott County reached out to state police on Feb. 7. Detective Brian Busick learned Anthony agreed to meet the girl at her home to do beautician work on her hair. When Anthony arrived, the release said, he told the girl he had forgot the materials needed to work on her hair, but he stayed at the residence and allegedly forced himself onto her.

Anthony was placed in the Scott County Jail, state police said, and being held without bond awaiting his first court appearance. Online court records Friday night had no case listed.

SCOTT COUNTY, Ind. (WISH) — A 23-year-old man was arrested Tuesday morning on child pornography charges.

According to Indiana State Police, detectives executed a search warrant in the 200 block of South 3rd Street in Scottsburg and seized computer-related items that allegedly contained child pornographic images.

Tyler S. Tscheulin of Scottsburg was arrested and charged with possession of child pornography and dissemination of child pornography. He was transported to the Scott County Jail to await his first court appearance.

State police indicated that the search warrant was the result of a tip they received from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

SCOTT COUNTY, Ind. (WISH) — Three men are in custody following warrants on drug related charges in Scott County.

45-year-old Jeffrey Hanner had been wanted for methamphetamine related charges.

Officers went to a residence on Cypress Street looking for him and took him into custody following a short pursuit on foot.

Hanner’s initial warrant stemmed from an incident where officials located methamphetamine, digital scales and cash inside a vehicle that was occupied by Hanner and two other individuals: 40-year-old Jesse Eversole and 40-year-old Joseph Riley.

Hanner faces charges of possession of methamphetamine, resisting law enforcement and criminal trespass.

Eversole and Riley face charges of visiting a common nuisance.

All three men are being held at the Scott County Jail.

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SCOTT COUNTY, Ind. (WISH) — An Indiana State Trooper was unharmed when a turkey flew into her windshield Wednesday night.

According to ISP Public Information Officer Sgt. Stephen Wheeles, Trooper Tia Denton encountered the bird on State Road 56 near Scottsburg at dusk.

A family in northern Indiana recently had a similar altercation. La Porte County Sheriff Mike Kellams chalked it up to mating season having the birds on the move.

SCOTT COUNTY, Ind. (WISH) — A Friday morning crash killed two teenagers in Scott County.

The Scott County Sheriff’s Office responded after a vehicle driven by 18-year-old Jacob Justice of Scottsburg went off the road while traveling on Jack Morgan Road near State Road 256 outside of Austin. Investigators said the vehicle went off of the west side of the road, flipped and hit several wooden fence poles.

Justice, along with 16-year-old Cameron Prestegui of Austin, were killed in the crash. Investigators said Justice was not wearing a seatbelt and was thrown from the vehicle.

17-year-old Jonathan Brown of Austin was wearing a seatbelt in the back seat. He was transported to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Indiana State Police sent a crash reconstruction team to the scene.

AUSTIN, Ind. (WISH) — The man who pleaded guilty to murdering a 78-year-old man in 2015 was sentenced to 85 years in prison Thursday.

James Caudill admitted to murdering John Turner inside John’s Coin and Jewelry in Austin, Indiana.

Caudill received the maximum sentence in the case.

Police said Caudill and his brother were attempting to rob the store when the murder happened.

His brother, 31-year-old Christopher Caudill of Austin, is charged with assisting a criminal, theft and other counts.The Associated Press contributed to this report.