BEDFORD – A Bloomington man is on trial this week in Lawrence County Superior Court I.
Scott M. Afanador is facing charges of auto theft and being a habitual offender.
The jury is scheduled to begin hearing testimony this afternoon.
Judge John Plummer III is presiding.
Afanador is being represented by Public Defender Denise Turner and Chief Public Defender Bruce Andis. Prosecutor Ryne Koucouthakis and Chief Deputy Prosecutor Allison Chopra are presenting the case for the state.
The trial is being live-streamed at this link
Afanador was arrested on August 6, 2020, after a Lawrence County Sheriff’s deputy responded to the 8850 block of State Road 150 after a report of a suspicious vehicle in a driveway and someone knocking on the caller’s door.
When the deputy pulled in the driveway the vehicle was headed toward the deputy. The deputy activated his lights and stopped the vehicle.
The deputy approached the vehicle and asked for the driver’s identification and inquired as to why he was at the caller’s home.
The male driver, 44-year-old Scott Afanador, told police he was looking for a male friend’s house and this is where his GPS took him, but he said no one would answer the door.
The deputy told Afanador the male he was looking for did not live at the home and the homeowners were concerned why he was knocking on their door.
The officer ran the registration of the vehicle and learned the vehicle had been stolen from Bloomington.
Afanador was asked to step out of the vehicle and was placed in handcuffs.
Afanador told the deputy he did not steal the vehicle but had borrowed it.
The vehicle was towed and the Bloomington Police Department was notified of the recovery.
Afanador was arrested on a charge of auto theft. Due to his criminal history the Prosecutor’s Office added an enhancement of habitual offender.
