Gary residents Carolyn McCrady, l-r, James Brandon Dillon, Roman Bronson, and Melvin Evans arrived at Thursday night’s city council meeting and found it had been cancelled.

Felony charges announced against Gary councilman Ron Brewer

Contributed By:The 411 News

Without explanation, Gary cancelled Thursday night’s city council meeting. Even council members arriving for the 6p.m. meeting were caught off guard.

Sixth district councilwoman LaVetta Sparks-Wade said criminal charges had just been announced earlier Thursday against city council president Ron Brewer. “But that was no reason to cancel the meeting. That’s why we have a vice president,” Sparks-Wade said. The regularly scheduled first Tuesday of the month council meeting had also been shifted because of Election Day.

The charges against council president Ron Brewer stem from the theft of his car on Saturday afternoon September 21 from the County Market gas station in Gary and his arrest Sunday night September 22 by East Chicago Police.

East Chicago Police wanted charges against Brewer filed then, but they were not forthcoming from the Lake County Prosecutor’s Office, until now.

An anonymous source said police in East Chicago asked for a warrant to search Brewer’s home for a gun to connect it with a bullet hole found in the rear of the stolen vehicle. County prosecutors wouldn’t grant it, the source said.

The case also involved 2 juveniles whose parents were “lawyering up,” another source said.

The probable cause document lays out events beginning Sunday evening September 22 when Lake County 911 dispatchers received a call from Nicole Brewer that she and her husband were pursuing their stolen car, a 2007 Lexus, in East Chicago.

Mrs. Brewer gave their location as 145th and Indianapolis Blvd. East Chicago Police responding to the call were alerted by their Shot-Spotter detection system that 3 shots had been fired within a two-block radius of the Brewer’s location. The Brewers were not at the location when officers arrived.

According to the probable cause, East Chicago police located surveillance video from area businesses showing the Lexus and a dark color SUV travelling at high speeds south on Indianapolis Blvd.

East Chicago police were flagged down by Nicole Brewer in the vicinity of 156th Street (Roxanna Drive) and Indianapolis Blvd. That is where the Lexus stopped and its occupants fled.

Mrs. Brewer told police that Ron Brewer had captured one of the occupants and was driving him back to Gary Police in the Lexus.

Gary Police met Brewer at his home and took the occupant to the Gary Police station. The male is identified as Victim I because he is a juvenile.

East Chicago Police arrested Brewer at his home and he was jailed for 3 days on preliminary charges.

The probable cause document includes conversations between the Brewers captured by the 911 dispatch system, from the initial call up to the time the occupants fled the vehicle.

Now, Ron Brewer faces 3 felony charges. He is charged with kidnapping, confinement, and intimidation with a deadly weapon.

Story Posted:11/08/2019