Man wanted for armed robberies in Indiana arrested in Texas

A man arrested in Texas in May is believed to be the same man that robbed a Bloomington business in March, Bloomington police said Thursday.

Homer J. Ballard, 57, of Loogootee, has been charged with armed robbery, a Class B felony, and is also suspected in several other robberies across Indiana.

Bloomington police believe the man is responsible for robbing the Advance America Cash Advance on  Third Street, said Lt. Drake of the Bloomington Police Department.
“We have identified him as our suspect and are seeking charges as well,” Drake said.

In March, a man matching Ballard’s description calmly walked up to the counter of the business, showed employees a black semiautomatic handgun and demanded cash.
While investigating the robbery, Bloomington police Detective Bill Jeffers was told by Terre Haute police that a man with the same description had robbed an Advance America Cash Advance there only an hour and a half earlier.

In April, Jeffers learned that the man robbed yet another cash advance business, this time in Elwood.

A witness followed the suspect and was able to obtain a license plate number from the man’s maroon Hyundai Elantra, Drake said.

The number and a positive photo lineup identification led police to suspect Ballard, who had been released from prison a year ago after serving time for a criminal confinement conviction in Switzerland County.

DNA evidence also led police in Jasper to suspect Ballard in a robbery there.
Altogether, Ballard is a suspect in seven Indiana robberies including businesses in Marion, Jasper, Terre Haute, Bloomington, Elwood and Martin County.

His spree came to an end, though, when Texas police located Ballard, as well as the same vehicle he was driving during the Elwood robbery, Drake said.

In the vehicle, police found a black handgun, a large amount of cash and various items of disguise, including a gray wig.

 – Jake New