The Amish & Crime

This past summer we learned that a man who had gone on a burglary spree, targeting several Amish businesses in Mercer County, Pennsylvania, had been caught a year after the crimes were committed. Along with three Amish stores, Harley Richard Redmond had broken into several non-Amish churches, burning one down in the process – and causing hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage. Now comes…

Indiana State Police announced today that they are seeking information in a cold case over half-a-century old – in which a 17-year-old Amish boy was killed when hit by a large rock thrown from a passing car. Mervin Lehman of LaGrange, Indiana died on March 22, 1969, after a rock entered the buggy he was riding in and struck him in the neck or chest…

An Amish taxi driver has been charged with DUI while he was transporting several Amish people, including two young Amish children, in Jefferson County, Pennsylvania. On stopping the driver, 58-year-old Patrick Allen Reitz Jr., police discovered marijuana in the vehicle, in addition to a strong burnt marijuana smell. Here’s what happened according to the report at Explore Jefferson: According to a criminal complaint, the incident…

Some sick person is exposing himself to Amish women in Pennsylvania. This has been going on for months now, apparently. The location is Indiana County, PA, home to over 4,000 Amish people living in several communities. And this isn’t the first time this has happened to the Amish in this general area (more on that below). In these latest occurrences, the suspect targets Amish females…

An update to a tragic story that is now coming to a close, of sorts. Last December, 10-year-old Amish boy Anthony Miller lost his life when he was hit by 30-year-old Logan Thomas, driving a pickup truck and under the influence of multiple drugs, including meth and fentanyl. This happened in the sizeable Amish community in St. Joseph County, Michigan. Thomas pleaded guilty to the charges…

March 2026 Update: “Ringleader” Bradford Hosler has now pleaded guilty to two counts as part of a plea deal. Full update at bottom of post. October brought news of an “appalling” attack upon an Amish family in Geauga County, Ohio. In it, an Amish man was brutally assaulted, and the culprits even attempted to abduct a young Amish boy (who fortunately somehow escaped. Now the…

It’s happened again. Authorities seek a man and a woman wanted for an attempted kidnapping of an Amish boy – only the latest attempted abduction of an Amish child. This happened yesterday in Gallia County, Ohio, in the southern end of the state. More from WSAZ: GALLIA COUNTY, Ohio (WSAZ) – Deputies are investigating a reported attempted abduction that allegedly happened Wednesday in Green Township….

It’s been a month since Amish teenager Elmer Borntrager lost his life on a Clarke County, Iowa backroad, killed when a driver struck his buggy and fled, leaving him to die on the roadside. A search for the vehicle operator ensued; several days later, his car was found. And now it’s been reported that the driver himself has been arrested. Here are the basic details,…

It’s still deer hunting season – and that means in many Amish communities, the men (and some women) are taking full advantage of the chance to go after a prize buck. And in Perry County, Pennsylvania, one group of hunters managed to get that trophy – only to have it swiped away by a thief. The report from CBS 21: PERRY COUNTY, Pa. (WHP) —…