Porter County Sheriff's Department

PORTER COUNTY: Porter County authorities believe teens were planning to trade guns for drugs  BY KEN KOSKY

A local man -- suspicious because juveniles were trying to sell him guns -- noticed the weapons were being stored under a mobile home and told police. That tip led Porter County police to recover 16 guns taken during a recent home burglary.  Police arrested five juveniles from Liberty and Jackson townships on burglary charges and expect to arrest a sixth. At least some of the suspects, who are between 15 and 17 years old, could be waived to adult court, police said.  "All the guns have been recovered and nobody got hurt," Porter County Detective Cmdr. Mike Jenkins said during a news conference Friday. Jenkins said the juveniles were planning to trade the guns for drugs. He said one of the guns already had been sold, but police were able to recover it. The owner of the guns, a Jackson Township man, was out of town and didn't know his home had been burglarized.  Detective Sgt. Larry Sheets said the juveniles originally entered the home to party because they thought it was abandoned. They realized the home was occupied and contained guns -- $20,000 worth -- so they stole them and put them under a home in Whispering Sands Mobile Home Park in Liberty Township, Sheets said.  Jenkins said some of the suspects have prior records for theft. Without the tip police received earlier this week, "this crime could have gone undetected and the guns could be long gone," he said.  "This is exactly what we hope happens," Chief Deputy David Lain said. "We absolutely rely on the public."