LEBANON, Ind. — Police in Boone County are searching for the owner of a home that caught fire on Tuesday.
According to our newsgathering partners at The Lebanon Reporter, Boone County Sheriff's Deputy Sgt. Jonathan Barnes was driving around the area of State Road 39 and State Road 47 in Lebanon on Dec. 5 when he noticed heavy smoke coming from a nearby house.
Barnes was familiar with the owner of the home and ran into the burning house to rescue him.
After no one responded to Barnes' calls, he eventually retreated from the fire to allow firefighters to extinguish the blaze.
According to Boone County Sheriff's Detective Lt. Jason Reynolds, the fire is under investigation for "numerous reasons," and police believe it to be a possible case of arson.
During firefighters' search through the home, they located a box labeled "dynamite," according to Boone County Communications Center records. The bomb squad was called following the discovery. No one was found to be inside the home during the fire.
According to Barnes and our newsgathering partners at The Lebanon Reporter, the home allegedly belonged to 56-year-old Steven Huckleberry.
Police recognized the house as Huckleberry's as they had been called to his residence previously. In October 2018, Huckleberry told police two intruders were in his home, but when he answered the door upon police's arrival, officers spotted a meth pipe in his pants pocket.
In 2019, Huckleberry pleaded guilty to possession of meth and later pleaded guilty to carrying a handgun without a license and criminal recklessness with a deadly weapon. He also has a pending case of resisting law enforcement.
Reynolds said Huckleberry "has a history of violence." However, the bomb squad determined the box labeled "dynamite" was not a threat and was just "made up to look like dynamite."
According to court records, foreclosure proceedings began for the house in November.
Anyone with information regarding the fire or the whereabouts of Huckleberry may call 765-482-1412 and press option 4 to speak with a dispatcher.
