Two Indiana Suspects Face Preliminary Hearings

Penny Lea Timko and Nicole A. Zaucha are each due in court on separate felony charges before District Judge Susanne Steffee.

Updated on Nov. 3, 2026 in Crime — General

Bold flat-color editorial illustration of a plain, unlabeled county courthouse facade under a single red-accented flag, set against a navy and cream background. — Penny Lea Timko and Nicole A. Zaucha had preliminary hearings before Judge Susanne Steffee on separate Indiana felony charges for assault and food stamp fraud. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

Preliminary hearings were held this morning for two Indiana suspects in separate cases involving assault and food stamp fraud. Both hearings are before District Judge Susanne Steffee.

Why it matters

The hearings move two separate felony cases forward through the district court system in Indiana. They also come as the docket shows a high volume of driving-under-the-influence cases, according to the extraction.

Penny Lea Timko faces a felony charge of aggravated assault-attempt to cause serious bodily injury plus summary counts of public drunkenness and disorderly conduct, while Nicole A. Zaucha faces two felony counts of fraudulently obtaining food stamps. Both matters are at the preliminary hearing stage, and the results of those hearings are not yet reported.

The players

Penny Lea Timko

A 53-year-old Indiana resident facing a felony aggravated assault charge and summary counts of public drunkenness and disorderly conduct.

Nicole A. Zaucha

An Indiana resident charged with two felony counts of fraudulently obtaining food stamps.

Susanne Steffee

The District Judge presiding over both preliminary hearings in this matter.

The details

Timko's case stems from an incident reported on October 2, and Zaucha is accused of food stamp fraud dating to October 2024. Both hearings were held before District Judge Susanne Steffee, and the extraction notes that many cases on the district docket today involve driving under the influence.

October 2024: Alleged food stamp fraud by Nicole A. Zaucha occurred.
October 2: Incident involving Penny Lea Timko was reported to police.
November 3, 2026: Preliminary hearings were held for both suspects this morning.

Legal Context

The district court docket on the day of these hearings is dominated by driving-under-the-influence cases, according to the extraction. These two felony matters are processed alongside that DUI volume rather than in isolation.

Indiana residents following the district court docket can track these cases as they move past preliminary hearings. The outcomes will determine whether the felony charges proceed to trial in the district court.

The takeaway

Preliminary hearings are an early procedural step, and the charges remain allegations until the court rules on them. Readers should watch for the outcomes of these hearings in the district court record.