Wells Superior Court
Criminal Cases
Preliminary plea of not guilty entered for Joel Tervon Ewing, 23, Fort Wayne, charged with possession of marijuana, a Class B misdemeanor. Bond continued at $1,000. Larry Mock appointed public defender.
A sheriff’s deputy pulled over a vehicle Ewing was driving north on Main Street at Oak Forest Drive Feb. 7 after noticing the vehicle had a passenger side taillight out.
A second deputy arrived to assist. The first deputy noted in his report to the court that he could smell an odor of raw marijuana emanating from the interior of the vehicle. The second deputy reported spotting a small tray in the backseat with a green leafy plant material on the tray that was consistent with the appearance of marijuana.
A search of the vehicle allegedly turned up a small plastic bag of green leafy plant material with both the odor and appearance of marijuana.
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Valerie B. Sager, 43, Bluffton, pleaded guilty to driving while suspended, a Class A misdemeanor.
Sentenced to a year in the Wells County Jail, with all but four days suspended — credited as time served, and placed on probation for 361 days. Probation may terminate upon her obtaining a valid Indiana driver’s license and paying all court costs and probation fees.
Sager was southbound on Ind. 1 north of Ossian Feb. 6 with a deputy in a patrol vehicle behind her. The deputy decided to perform a license plate check on the vehicle and discovered that the registered owner — Sager — had a suspended driver’s license from a Sept. 9, 2021, sentencing in Wells Superior Court.
The deputy pulled the vehicle over.
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Preliminary plea of not guilty entered for Joshua James Royster, 41, Berne, charged with driving while suspended with a prior conviction for the same offense, a Class A misdemeanor, and operating a motor vehicle with an expired license plate, a Class C infraction. Bond continued at $1,500. Allison Sprunger appointed pauper counsel.
A Bluffton police officer pulled over the 2007 Dodge Durango Royster was driving on Main Street near Madison Avenue Feb. 5 after noticing the expired plate.
Royster had a previous driving while suspended conviction May 6, 2016, and his license was suspended again Oct. 1, 2020, for failure to pay child support.
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Preliminary pleas of not guilty entered for Roger Lee Fox, 18, Tyler James Flowers, 23, both from Bluffton, and each charged with cruelty to an animal, a Class A misdemeanor. Bond continued at $1,500. Jeffrey Stineburg appointed public defender for Fox and Larry Mock appointed as public defender for Flowers.
Fox and Flowers are charged with failing to provide adequate food and water for two dogs at their North Oak Street residence. One of the dogs died and the second was so malnourished that it could not lift its head.
The case was initially investigated by Bluffton Police and Wells County Animal Control Jan. 13. A Bluffton police officer discovered the dogs while serving an arrest warrant at the residence for an unrelated matter the previous night.
The dogs had reportedly been left in the care of Fox and Flowers by a woman who was incarcerated at the Adams County Jail in September of 2021.
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Chelsea K. Patton, 32, Bluffton, violated probation by using alcohol — testing .207 alcohol concentration equivalency on a Breathalyzer test — and failing to report to her probation officer her contact with law enforcement Dec. 10, 2021.
Ordered to serve 60 days in the Wells County Jail. Her probation period was also extended three months.
Patton was originally sentenced March 23, 2021, on one count of operating a vehicle while intoxicated endangering a person with a prior conviction for the same offense, a Level 6 felony.
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Michael Wayne Copeland Jr., 26, Bluffton, pleaded guilty to auto theft, a Level 6 felony, driving while intoxicated endangering a person, a Class A misdemeanor; and leaving the scene of a traffic accident, a Class B misdemeanor.
Sentenced to two years in prison on the felony charge, one year in the Wells County Jail on the Class A misdemeanor; and six months in the Wells County Jail on the Class B misdemeanor. All but 200 days of the sentences were suspended and the counts are to be served concurrently.
Placed on probation for 530 days.
Ordered to submit a DNA sample, pay restitution of $500 to his victim and pay court costs and probation fees.
As part of a plea agreement charges of driving while suspended with a prior conviction for the same offense, a Class A misdemeanor; and two other counts of leaving the scene of a property damage crash, both Class B misdemeanors, were all dismissed.
Copeland was charged with taking the pickup truck of an acquaintance at Hampshire Court Apartments, 510 W. Dustman Rd., Nov. 28, 2021. In the process he crashed the pickup truck into a parked vehicle in the apartment complex’s parking lot.
He then reportedly drove the pickup truck south on Main Street. He pulled into the parking lot of the Airplane Express convenience store at 407 N. Main St. and reportedly crashed the pickup truck into a gas pump island at the convenience store.
Officers were able to track the movement of the pickup truck south on Main Street by following a trail of parts and fluid it was leaving behind in the roadway.
Copeland reportedly drove the vehicle off South Main Street near 250S into a field where it became stuck. Copeland exited the truck and was confronted by a sheriff’s deputy who ordered Copeland at gunpoint to get on his knees and put his hands in the air. Copeland complied and allegedly told the deputy he was “drunk.”
Copeland blew a .15 percent alcohol concentration equivalency on a Breathalyzer test.
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Nancy Priscilla Velazquez Monzon, 29, Bluffton, pleaded guilty to theft, a Class A misdemeanor.
Sentenced to a year in the Wells County Jail, all suspended, and placed on probation for one year. Probation may terminate once all fees and costs are paid.
Monzon is charged with “skip-scanning” — failing to scan all items in her cart — at the self-checkout aisle of the Bluffton Walmart Supercenter Sept. 30.
Monzon is alleged to have failed to pay for $118.26 in meat, produce and other merchandise.
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Stephen R. Applegate Sr., 53, Bluffton, pleaded guilty to possession of marijuana, a Class B misdemeanor.
Sentenced to 180 days in the Wells County Jail, with all but two days suspended — credited as times served, and placed on probation for 363 days.
Ordered to pay court costs and probation fees.
As part of a plea agreement, one count of possession of drug paraphernalia, a Class C misdemeanor, was dismissed.
On Oct. 9, while performing a search of Applegate’s residence requested by the Wells County Probation Department, officers reportedly found both marijuana and drug paraphernalia in the residence.
