Deputies probing home robbery, assault

The Mercer County Sheriff's Office continues to investigate a weekend robbery that resulted in injuries to an area man who reportedly was beaten and then bound with duct tape and electrical wire.

Jerry McNeilan, 43, 1160 Oregon Road, Celina, was taken from his home by ambulance Sunday night to Mercer County Community Hospital in Coldwater, where he remains under treatment and in fair condition.

McNeilan told deputies two men came to his home around 3 p.m. Sunday on the pretext of looking at a car for sale. He was struck repeatedly with PVC pipe while outside with the pair and then bound inside the residence at some point during the subsequent robbery.

Although still bound, McNeilan eventually gained access to a telephone and called his mother who, in turn, alerted law enforcement shortly after 5 p.m. A 911 dispatcher tried without success to call the residence but the phone continued to ring busy.

The first deputy at the scene reported hearing a person screaming and finding blood on the porch. With Celina rescue personnel stationed at the intersection of Wabash and Oregon roads awaiting the all-clear signal, authorities entered the home, located McNeilan and determined the alleged perpetrators were no longer there.

The men reportedly left the McNeilan home with an undisclosed amount of money and some marijuana, according to sheriff's office reports.

Neither a description of the assailants nor their car have been released, but McNeilan told authorities one of the suspects had come to his home the previous week to look at a vehicle.

Deputies executed a search warrant after McNeilan was taken to the hospital and remained on the scene for several hours. Sheriff Jeff Grey declined to reveal the contents of evidence bags removed from the scene due to the continuing investigation.