Businessman arrested on stolen goods charges

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) - A Terre Haute businessman was arrested Monday on charges of corrupt business influence and attempting to receive stolen property.

Darrell Shouse, 52, is accused of buying goods which he believed were stolen and using the proceeds from those goods in operating S. & R. Detail, a car detailing business at the intersection of 9th and College in Terre Haute.

Police reportedly began investigating Shouse in June when detectives were interviewing a person accused of shoplifting. That person is identified in court documents only by the abbreviation “CI.” According to those documents, CI told police Shouse had been buying stolen goods from CI and others and would give them “shopping lists” of items he wanted.

In the weeks that followed, police reportedly set up a series of “controlled deliveries” during which police gave CI various electronics devices including televisions, headphones, blue-tooth equipment and other devices. In turn, CI would deliver them to Shouse while wearing a recording device and giving the impression that the items were stolen.

According to court documents, Shouse accepted and paid CI for the items. Police report Shouse was also recorded making references to theft, including speculations on which racial and ethnic groups are monitored more carefully by retailers for shoplifting.

Shouse was arrested Tuesday on a warrant. He faces a series of felony charges including two counts of Corrupt Business Influence and six counts of Attempted Receiving Stolen Property. He is being held in the Vigo County Jail on a $35,000 cash bond.