Jeffery Joseph Hunt

Jeffery Joseph Hunt, 25, of Winona Lake, is being sought today for his alleged role in a home invasion robbery that seriously injured an elderly New Paris man.

Elkhart County Sheriff’s Department investigators say Hunt and his father, Jeffrey Ramon Hill, 43, also of Winona Lake,
forced their way into an elderly couple’s home on the night of Nov. 4, striking the man, 82-year-old Donald Neer, with a tire iron. Neer suffered a broken neck in the attack.

Hunt is currently wanted on an Elkhart County warrant for two Class A felony charges of robbery resulting in serious bodily injury and burglary resulting in injury, and two Class B felony charges of burglary committed while armed with a deadly weapon and criminal confinement while armed with a deadly weapon. His bond in that case has not yet been set.

Hunt is also wanted on a $1,000 bond in Kosciusko County for a misdemeanor charge of false informing. His last arrest was just on Nov. 12 when he was booked into the Kosciusko County Jail for a Winona Lake Police Department case of felony theft.

Jeffrey R. Hill

Hunt’s father, Jeffrey Ramon Hill, 43, also of Winona Lake, is currently being held in the Elkhart County Jail on a $2 million bond on the same felony charges stemming from the Nov. 4 home invasion.

According to Indiana Department of Corrections records, Hill has at least four burglary convictions and has served several prison terms. In September 1992, he was sentenced out of Lake County to serve 4 years, 11 months and 30 days in prison for burglary. He was also sentenced in April 1996 for another burglary charge, also out of Lake County. For that, he received a sentence of 4 years.

On Sept. 2, 2004, Hill was against sentenced for burglary in Lake County to serve 8 years behind bars, but was released in June 2010. On Nov. 12, 2008, he also received a 4-year sentence for burglary in St. Joseph County. His projected release date was Feb. 14, 2012. Hill was out on parole when he was arrested last week in Elkhart County.

Each Class A felony charge carries a penalty of up to 50 years imprisonment and fines up to $10,000.