Police solve burglary of deceased man's home

A rural Bloomfield brother, sister and their uncle are sitting in the Greene County Jail, accused of burglarizing a deceased man's home on Monday, the day of his funeral.

The uncle, Wayne L. Goldsby, Jr., 45, is being held in lieu of $14,000 bond.

The brother, Michael L. Lane, 22, is being held in lieu of $20,000 bond.

The sister, Megan L. Lane, 20, is being held in lieu of $33,000 bond.

On Tuesday, the brother and the uncle reportedly got into a physical fight over an unpaid debt and police were called.

When an officer attempted to arrest the brother, the officer was allegedly attacked by the sister.

Once at the jail, some items of stolen property from the deceased man's home were found in their pockets.

All three suspects ended up in custody on Tuesday and the charges filed against them have been piling up, two cases each.

Preliminary charges against Goldsby include disorderly conduct, a class B misdemeanor, in one case, and class C felony burglary and class D felony theft in another.

Preliminary charges against Michael Lane include disorderly conduct, a class B misdemeanor, in one case, and class C felony burglary, class D felony theft, and class B misdemeanor criminal mischief in another.

Preliminary charges against Megan Lane include battery upon a law enforcement officer resulting in bodily injury, a class D felony, in one case, and class C felony burglary and class D felony theft in another.

All three are expected to be hauled to the courthouse on Monday for their arraignments in Greene Superior Court.

According to his obituary information, James Christenberry passed away on Nov. 12 and was laid to rest on Monday. His residence was located on south State Road 45, RR3, Bloomfield, next door to the property where the Lanes and Goldsby live in separate residences.

The Indiana State Police were conducting an investigation into the burglary of Christenberry's home when Greene County Sheriff's Deputies were dispatched to the Lane residence about the fight.

Probable cause affidavits prepared by Deputy J. Aaron Smith indicate the uncle and the brother told different stories about the altercation but it apparently started over money that Michael Lane owed Goldsby.

The affidavit states Lane said Goldsby hit him first, punching him in the face with a closed fist but Goldsby said Lane hit him first. They both said they tried to protect their self from the other. They both said they fought in the living room then fought in the front yard of Lane's residence.

When Deputy Smith told Lane he was getting arrested, Michael Lane reportedly pulled some foreign currency from his pants pocket and handed it to his sister who placed the bills in her pocket.

The affidavit says Megan Lane then became verbally abusive toward the deputy and said he was not going to arrest her brother.

As the deputy proceeded to walk the brother to a patrol vehicle, Megan Lane grabbed her brother and tried to pull him away.

She was told to get back but instead, she allegedly spun toward the deputy and punched him with a closed fist on the left side of his face.

The affidavit states Megan Lane was then "assisted to the ground."

Brother and sister were taken to jail and when they were booked in, Megan Lane had currency from Mexico, Indonesia and China in her pocket. The words "James Christenberry July 8, 1932, cancer 13"" had been written on the Chinese money.

The ISP and the sheriff's department got together in a joint investigation to solve the burglary case.

Goldsby was also taken into custody later in the day.

Probable cause affidavits prepared by ISP Senior Trooper Eric Russell in the Christenberry burglary cases indicate the three suspects all told different stories about the circumstances surrounding the burglary.

A search warrant was executed on the Lane and Goldsby residences (located next to each other) and Goldsby's vehicle.

The stolen items recovered included a black trash bag full of miscellaneous articles, a vehicle registration, pillows, clocks, a car stereo, boxes and a guitar in addition to the currency.

The windows of several cars on the Christenberry property were also reportedly broken out during the burglary.

Information on the case released by the Indiana State Police recognized the following officers who assisted in the investigation: Indiana State Police Sgt. Chris Lewis, troopers Eric Russell, Shea Teague and Daniel Crozier, Greene County Sheriff's Det. George Dallaire, deputies Brad Deckard and Aaron Smith, and Greene County Prosecutor Jarrod Holtsclaw.