Wells Superior Court
Criminal Cases
Brian Elston, 42, Monroeville, pleaded guilty to operating a vehicle with an alcohol concentration equivalency of .15 percent or more with a prior conviction for the same offense, a Level 6 felony with an habitual offender enhancement.
Sentenced to an aggregate of 2,190 days in prison. All but 860 days of the sentence were suspended and Elston was credited for 296 days spent in confinement awaiting disposition of his case.
Ordered to serve 730 days on probation upon release from incarceration.
Ordered to submit a DNA sample, pay all costs associated with his blood test, court costs and probation fees.
As part of a plea agreement, charges of operating a vehicle while intoxicated endangering a person with a prior conviction for the same offense, a Level 6 felony, and driving while suspended with a prior conviction, a Class A misdemeanor, were both dismissed.
On Oct. 4, 2021, at 2:04 a.m., in the parking lot of the Airplane Express convenience store, an officer observed a gray passenger car in the parking lot with a male passenger who appeared to be leaning through an open window and giving the officer and a fellow officer an obscene gesture with one of the fingers on the passenger’s hand.
As the car started to pull away, the first officer yelled that the driver of the car needed to turn on the headlights of the vehicle. The driver of the car did so, but upon pulling out onto North Main Street, he allegedly turned off the headlights of the vehicle and continued north on Main Street for about two blocks with the vehicle’s headlights off. The officers then followed in their patrol vehicles. The vehicle then turned into the parking lot of Perfect Pet where the driver reportedly turned on the headlights of the vehicle.
The officers followed the vehicle through two other parking lots before the vehicle came to a stop at The America’s Best Value Inn and parked in a parking space. The investigating officer spoke with both Elston and his male passenger. Both were smoking cigarettes in a manner that the investigating officer noted in his report appeared to be an effort to conceal an odor of alcohol that was emanating from the vehicle.
The officer ordered Elston to step from the vehicle. He observed in his report that Elston appeared intoxicated, failed field sobriety tests and blew a .256 percent alcohol concentration equivalency on a Breathalyzer test, which is more than three times Indiana’s legal limit for intoxication of .08 percent.
Elston had a prior conviction in Adams Superior Court March 12, 2019, for operating a vehicle with an alcohol concentration equivalency of .15 percent or greater and driving while suspended with a prior conviction, a Class A misdemeanor.
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Charge of driving while suspended with a prior conviction for the same offense, a Class A misdemeanor, was dismissed for Thomas E. Roach, 38, Markle.
Infractions
Judgment of $15 and costs of $135 entered against Linda Parker, 40, Ossian, found guilty of permitting her dog to stray beyond her premises.
One count of driving while suspended, a Class A infraction was dismissed for Joseph L. Davis II, 46, Bluffton.
Jennifer Feliciano, 45, Bluffton, admitted to distracted driving and driving while suspended. Assessed court costs and fines totaling $160.50.
Preston T. Greene, 28, Fort Wayne, admitted to driving while suspended and operating a motor vehicle without insurance. Assessed court costs and fines totaling $150.
Civil Cases
Judgment of $3,652.40 entered for Premier Flats apartments, Bluffton, against tenant April Nichole Grove.
Complaint for possession and for non-payment of rent dismissed by SMS Property Management, Bluffton, for Chelsa Freeman, Bluffton.
Wells Circuit Court
Criminal Cases
Two-day jury trial set to commence at 9 a.m. Aug. 24 for Zachary Archbold, 29, Bluffton, charged with resisting law enforcement causing bodily injury, a Level 6 felony.
