A small town Indiana police chief has been arrested and charged with allegedly stealing guns from criminal investigations and selling the weapons to a pawn shop.
Earl Mayo, 45, who is the boss of the New Chicago Police Department in Lake County, Indiana, was arrested in Ohio on Friday and is accused of evading arrest. He has been charged with theft, official misconduct, attempted obstruction of justice and unlawful possession of anabolic steroids.
Mayo, who is also the son of Democrat Lake County Sheriff candidate Jerry Williams, allegedly sold multiple guns to a pawn shop in April 2025, according to court documents obtained by WGN.
The investigation into Mayo began when a prosecutor ran a firearm trace on a handgun associated with a pending 2023 criminal case for a woman accused of unlawfully carrying a handgun with a prior felony conviction. The trace revealed that the gun was sold at Mega Cash Pawn in Hobart on April 29, 2025, according to the filing.
Investigators alleged that Mayo, who was the arresting officer in the original case, sold the gun to the shop. The pawn shop manager allegedly told police that the store had purchased 12 firearms from Mayo for a total of $2,610 in April 2025.
Prosecutors claim that Mayo attempted to get the gun bought back by multiple people. An officer at the New Chicago Police Department told investigators that Mayo asked him to buy back the gun, and claimed that the chief ordered him to go to his home and retrieve suppressors or suppressed firearms from a safe, according to the filing.
Mayo allegedly told the officer he had 'things inside his residence that the feds would never find,' the court document stated.
Mayo, who was appointed chief in 2023, was placed on administrative leave, and Lake County police have taken over policing duties in the town of approximately 2,000 residents.
According to CrimeGrade.org, the crime rate in New Chicago is 36.32 per 1,000 residents. A majority of the crime is property crime and theft, and violent crime is very low.
Mayo, who also authored a novel called When Lines Are Crossed, is being held for extradition at the Clark County Jail in Ohio. It is unclear when he will be sent back to Indiana.
His father, who is also an Indiana State Police Major, issued a statement to the Chicago Tribune on Saturday. 'If it is ultimately established that Earl engaged in the conduct alleged by the government, then he must and should accept responsibility for his actions and face the consequences,' Williams said.
Prosecutors have also charged a 47-year-old woman, Taneka Roshawn Borders, who they claim helped Mayo. She is accused of trying to buy back the gun on Mayo's behalf, according to court documents.
A detective who went to the pawn shop on May 22 to seize the gun allegedly saw a woman in a pink tracksuit, who they say is Borders, at the store. Pawn shop staff told the detective that Mayo called and said the woman was coming to pick up the gun, according to the filing.
Court documents also state that when police went to Mayo's home, Borders answered the door in the same pink tracksuit. She allegedly told police that Mayo asked her to destroy testosterone and steroid vials he had in his home.
