Pair faces charges after trespassing incident, chase in Steuben County

STEUBEN CO., Ind. (ADAMS) – The Steuben County County Sheriff’s Office says two people are facing charges after they were trespassing on a property in rural Scott Township.

Police say that a 911 call was placed Monday afternoon when the property owner spotted the pair. They were seen confronting the subjects when deputies arrived.

K-9 units were deployed and the subjects took off on foot. After a chase through the woods, the two were eventually apprehended.
One of the subjects was identified as 35-year-old Hollie Sue Richter of rural Fremont. The other identified as Skylar A. Robertson, 31, of Lookout Mountain, Georgia. He is also accused of trying to drown the county’s K-9 officer, Klara, during the chase.

The Steuben County Sheriff’s Office released the following:

On 04/08/2024 just after 3:30pm, Steuben County Sheriff’s deputies were called to investigate a complaint of trespassing in the 3900 block of East CR 200 N in Steuben County’s rural Scott Township. The report indicated that a male and female subject were located on the property without the permission of the property owner. At the time of the report, it was unclear what the subjects were doing on the property or why they were there.

When deputies arrived in the area, they located a male and female on the property being confronted by the property owner who appeared to be the subject of the trespassing complaint. When one of the Sheriff’s K-9 units attempted to make contact with the suspects to identify them, both suspects fled on foot to the south into a wooded area.

The property owner then gave chase in a UTV and assisted Sheriff’s deputies and other responding law enforcement officers in locating the pair in the wooded area. Once contact was made again, several commands were given for the suspects to stop or a Sheriff’s K-9 would be released. Both suspects fled on foot again causing K-9 handler Corporal Johnson to release K-9 Klara to apprehend the fleeing suspects.

Once K-9 Klara was released, the female suspect stopped and surrendered without further incident. She was taken into custody and identified as 35 year old Hollie Sue Richter of rural Fremont. The male suspect continued feeling from Corporal Johnson and K-9 Klara. K-9 Klara was able to catch up with the suspect and engaged him in a bite as the suspect was running down into a large creek. The suspect then allegedly grabbed the Sheriff’s K-9’s collar and forced her head under the water in what appeared to be an attempt to drown the dog.

K-9 Klara then disengaged the bite in order to try and free herself from the water. The suspect began to flee again but K-9 Klara was able to engage another bite before being called off by Corporal Johnson due to possible exhaustion and injury from struggling to breathe under the water. The suspect then attempted to flee again but was apprehended by Indiana State Police. He was identified as 31 year old Skyler Austin Robertson of Lookout Mountain, GA.

Both Robertson and Richter were transported to Cameron Hospital by Steuben County EMS to be cleared medically before being transported to the Steuben County Jail and booked on the following preliminary charges.

Skyler A. Robertson: 2 counts of Resisting Law Enforcement, a class A Misdemeanor 1 count of Interfering or Striking a Law Enforcement Animal, a level 6 felony Robertson also had an active arrest warrant for Failure to Appear on Resisting Law Enforcement and Possession of Marijuana.

Hollie S. Richter: 1 count of Resisting Law Enforcement, a class A Misdemeanor Richter also had active arrest warrants for Failure to Return to Lawful Detention, Possession of Methamphetamine, and Escape from Community Corrections.

Both Robertson and Richter remain held without bond pending an initial court appearance. K-9 Klara was taken to an area Veterinarian and treated for water in the lungs and is expected to make a full recovery. The incident remains under investigation by the Sheriff’s Office and additional charges may be sought. Assisting the Sheriff’s Office at the scene were the Angola Police, Indiana State Police, and the Steuben County EMS.