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3 Charged With Burglarizing Harder Hall

SUSPECTS: Wanted To Check Out If Building Was Haunted

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By BRAD DICKERSON

Highlands Today

Published: November 12, 2008

SEBRING - Three individuals were arrested Saturday after allegedly entering Harder Hall illegally.

Gretchen Ann Indarjit, 24, of 3116 Avery Court; Jonathan Ross Kats, 26, of 3017 Avery Court; and Brian Keith Tropp, 37, of 3017 Avery Court, all of Sebring, were each charged with burglary of an unoccupied structure while unarmed, criminal mischief and trespassing.

Officers responded to Harder Hall just after 1:30 a.m. Saturday in reference to an alarm from the north door. When they arrived, police reportedly saw Tropp within the locked and fenced area of the building. Indarjit and Kats were also seen walking from the north side toward the road.

After the three subjects were put into patrol cars, officers did a search of the area. The north side door was found opened and had an estimated $50 in damage, according to the arrest report. There did not appear to be any property stolen or damaged inside.

Kats reportedly told police that he and the other two suspects were driving past Harder Hall when Tropp said the building was haunted. The three then decided to "check it out."

He added that he entered through the north side door, took a few steps inside and then left the building, the report stated.

Tropp was read his Miranda Rights and declined to speak to officers without an attorney present.

Indarjit waived her right to an attorney and told police the three were going to check out the building because they heard it was haunted. She told law enforcement that she went into Harder Hall, walked to a stairway, became "spooked" and then left.

Sebring Police Department Officer Sean Bueford made the arrest.

These three were, apparently, not the first to test their mettle and enter an alleged haunted building.

"For years, there have been stories about hauntings in Harder Hall," said Pete Pollard, executive director of the Community Redevelopment Agency. "For years, it has been kind of a rite of passage for some of our young people to break into Harder Hall."

Gary Puckett, who was project manager of Harder Hall in the 1990s, knows several stories pertaining to the building's supposed phantoms.

He said the main tale centers on two sisters who came down from New York every winter and stayed in Room 602 at Harder Hall. They eventually died, but not in the building.

As Puckett recalled, an auction was held to sell the hotel's property. Workers went to get the furniture out of room 602, only to come into contact with two women who wouldn't let them take anything out.

These "women" were supposedly the spirits of the deceased sisters.

When he was project manager, Puckett said there were several instances where workers spotted an older gentleman in the south hall while they were busy putting in new windows.

This man was said to have white, slick-backed hair and wore a blue leisure suit. As the workers approached him, he walked away and simply disappeared.

"My research indicated that it had been one of the former owners," Puckett said.

His final story was one that former Harder Hall security guards first reported. While on duty, the guards started to hear music coming from a lobby piano. When they went to investigate the playing, no one was there.

"I never, ever had any of the experiences myself," Puckett said.

Recently, the Sebring City Council voted to approve a contract for Harder Hall with Calibre Investment Group LLC, which wants to convert the hotel into units for independent living.

Brad Dickerson can be reached at 863-386-5838 or bdickerson@highlandstoday.com

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