FRANKLIN, Ind. — A man has been sentenced after prosecutors said he intentionally drove his pickup truck into the entrance of a juvenile justice center on Mother’s Day in 2025.
Jacob Christopher Dhondt, 40, received a four-year sentence on March 20, with three years to be served in prison and one year on work release, according to the Daily Journal. Dhondt pleaded guilty in February to criminal mischief and criminal recklessness, both Level 6 felonies, for crashing into the Dickinson Juvenile Justice Center in Franklin.
As part of the sentence, he was also ordered to pay $25,000 in restitution to Johnson County through wage garnishment after his release.
The crash happened around 11:30 a.m. on May 11, 2025, when Dhondt drove his white pickup truck into the facility’s entryway. According to court documents cited by the Daily Journal, a justice center field officer witnessed Dhondt accelerate into the building, back up, and then drive into the entrance a second time.
The truck’s tailgate had been spray-painted with the words “Fathers Matter.”
No staff members or juveniles inside the facility were hurt, though officials said employees and detained youth were in the building at the time. Authorities estimated the crash caused about $100,000 in damage.
The truck broke through one set of exterior doors, shattered glass and damaged two non-weight-bearing columns, according to the affidavit. The vehicle stopped before reaching the inner doors after its tires came to rest in a concrete flower pot. Despite the damage, the center was able to continue operating the next day after the entrance was boarded up.
Prosecutors said Dhondt targeted the building because he was angry over a juvenile court decision involving parenting time. In statements to deputies after the crash, he allegedly said he drove into the building on purpose to send a message and blamed a juvenile magistrate judge for his custody issues.
According to the affidavit, deputies said Dhondt showed no remorse and told them he would do it again.
During sentencing, Deputy Prosecutor Stephanie Caraway argued there is no safe way to drive a truck into a public building and said it was fortunate no one was seriously hurt or killed. Special Judge David Riggins, who presided over the case, reportedly described Dhondt’s actions as an attack on the judiciary and said that weighed heavily in his decision.
In a statement released after sentencing, Johnson County Prosecutor Lance Hamner said the prison term reflected the seriousness of the act.
“We cannot tolerate anarchist behavior from individuals who choose to lash out simply because they dislike the outcome of their cases,” Hamner said.
County officials had previously described the crash as a targeted act against the justice center and the court system. Johnson County Sheriff Duane Burgess said after the incident that the act put county employees in danger and that it was fortunate no one was injured.
At the time of the crash, Dhondt was on home detention for a separate Shelby County methamphetamine conviction, according to prosecutors.
