Amish Acres Left “Deserted” — And Its Owner Was Just Arrested In Louisiana

The man who ran Amish Acres in Nappanee, Indiana under the name “Brad Juneau” has been arrested in Louisiana – about 10 days after vendors found the attraction’s grounds deserted.

ABC57 reports that Michael Loftin was taken into custody in Kenner, Louisiana, on October 29th. ABC57 had previously reported an active warrant for Loftin in Terrebonne Parish for “Issuing of a Worthless Check.” The station’s arrest report says the exact charges have not yet been disclosed.

WSBT reports that Nappanee’s mayor and police department confirmed the arrest, and that local investigators are still looking into fraud claims.

Loftin, who police say has used at least 15 aliases, took over Amish Acres last fall with plans to bring back something like the original attraction. In August the state shut down part of the property over fire safety violations, before clearing it days later. And at the end of September, a report detailed Loftin’s prior charges, aliases, and convictions, along with complaints from local customers and vendors.

This latest piece of the story comes as little surprise, as the trajectory of the “Amish Acres revival” had seemed to be heading this way for some time.

Vendors Find Amish Acres Deserted

On October 20th, ABC57 reported that Nappanee police had helped craft vendors recover merchandise that had been locked inside the property’s Craft Barn for months. A Fall Fest had been announced for that week in a post on an Amish Acres Facebook group, but the grounds were empty.

One vendor, Barb Dean-Davis, described her problems to the station:

“They ended up having a couple craft shows during the summer, but I never got any money for the things that they did sell during the craft show. And I know for a fact they did sell some.” said vendor Barb Dean-Davis who retrieved her inventory this morning.

She’s one of multiple vendors who tell ABC57 they’ve had trouble reaching owner Brad Juneau to settle up the situation.

Detective Nik Havert told the station at the time that police did not know where Juneau was. Havert said he had heard Juneau might be visiting family, and that Juneau had told him he planned to return, though with no timeframe.

Havert was waiting on subpoenas for financial records to determine whether the matter was civil or criminal; no charges had been filed at that time. One of the open questions in our last post was why police hadn’t been able to file charges against Juneau given the number of complaints against him. Dean-Davis was just one of those wondering:

“It is frustrating. I just hope this whole thing gets settled. This guy gets caught. Whatever charges he may have against him, justice will be brought again. What goes around comes around,” said Dean-Davis.

Juneau told ABC57 by phone that he was visiting the property at least a couple of times a week and had an employee managing it – but the station reports that he hung up when asked about police helping the vendors.

A History Of Bad-Check Cases

Charges over bad checks are nothing new for Loftin. Records cited in ABC57’s September report included a string of worthless-check charges going back to the early 2000s, and a 2019 guilty plea in Louisiana for worthless checks under the name Michael Loftin. He also goes by other names; police say he has used at least 15 aliases in multiple states.

Complaints in Nappanee followed a similar pattern. A foam-party vendor told ABC57 he was paid for an event with a check in the name of Michael Loftin that did not clear. Couples who had booked weddings at the property described overcharges and refunds that never came.

As of October 20, no charges had been filed against Loftin over the complaints related to Amish Acres. WSBT reports that the investigation in Nappanee is ongoing.

As for what happens next with the Amish Acres property itself, that remains to be seen. But it’s pretty safe to say Loftin/Juneau won’t have anything to do with it.