NOT GREAT

Candidate for Indianapolis Mayor Charged With Stealing

John Couch was allegedly caught piling items from a cooling and heating business into his truck.

John Couch’s campaign for mayor of Indianapolis has hit a snag: He’s facing a theft charge. The Republican allegedly filched a bunch of items from Bassett Services, a heating and cooling company, in January—telling police he saw them sitting out as he was driving by and thought he could take them, the Indianapolis Star reports. That was news to Bassett’s owner, who called cops on Couch and noted that he had posted signs declaring that all items on the property belonged to the company. A judge initially found Couch guilty on March 14 of Class A misdemeanor theft and fined him $236 but prosecutors in Hendricks County filed the same charge a week later after Couch requested a new trial. He will go to trial on May 24. In 2016, Couch was found not guilty of stalking a state lawmaker he was running to unseat.

Editor’s note: This article was updated to note that Couch was found guilty of theft on March 14, but prosecutors filed charges again on March 21 after Couch requested a new trial.