INCIDENTS
City:
Friday, 3:19 p.m., El Camino Real, 2185 Commerce Drive. Woman fell backward and struck her head. Officers, Bluffton Fire Department first responders and Wells County EMS dispatched.
Friday, 5:16 p.m., Dutch Mill Plaza parking lot. Large knife found.
Friday, 6:33 p.m., Dollar General South, 1311 S. Main St. Shopping cart struck a Chevrolet Trailblazer sport utility vehicle and caused minor damage to the Trailblazer.
Friday, 6:54 p.m., Main Street at Division Road. Officer provided traffic control while an employee from the Indiana Department of Transportation replaced downed wires.
Friday, 10:05 p.m., Save-On Liquor North, 605 N. Main St. Burglar alarm. Officers responded. No sign of foul play found.
Friday, 10:54 p.m., Capri Meadows apartments. Report of a man lying on a bench outside of one of the apartment buildings. Officers responded. Man had earlier been in an argument with his girlfriend.
Saturday, midnight, Scott Street at Townley Street. Two boys and a girl wandering around in the area. Officer responded. All scattered on foot.
Saturday, 2:25 a.m., Praxis substance abuse treatment facility, 1529 W. Lancaster St. Officer requested for a female patient threatening suicide who has a past history of weapons violence. Officer transported the woman to Parkview Behavioral Health.
Saturday, 3:59 a.m., Main Street at Capri Court. Officer pulled over a vehicle and arrested the driver, Kevin Eugene Mock, 57, Fort Wayne, on one count of driving while suspended with a prior conviction for the same offense, a Class A misdemeanor. No bond set. Mock also had a warrant for his arrest out of Lawrence County for failing to appear for an initial hearing on one count of driving while suspended with a prior conviction for the same offense, a Class A misdemeanor. He is also wanted out of Vanderburgh County on charges of failing to appear for a hearing on charges of criminal trespass, a Class A misdemeanor; driving while suspended, a Class A infraction; and following another vehicle too closely, a Class C infraction.
Saturday, 1:45 p.m., report of something suspicious stowed in the rafters of the pavilion at Rotary Park. Officer responded and discovered it was a geocache.
Saturday, 6:36 p.m., Berne Police Department contacted the Bluffton Police Department to report that a Bluffton woman had a fraudulent social media account made up in the Bluffton woman’s name that featured nude photos of the woman.
Saturday, 6:40 p.m., Dollar General, 123 W. Market St. Caller reported discovering the store was closed and was not sure why. Officer noted that the store is closing early because the air conditioner in the store does not work.
Saturday, 7:05 p.m., caller reported a man left bottles and other litter down by the Wabash Central railroad trestle over the Wabash River. Andrew J. Grace, 41, Bluffton, was cited for littering.
Sunday, 2:54 a.m., Wells County Courthouse, 102 W. Market St. Someone abandoned a bicycle next to the building. Sheriff’s deputy took the bike to the Bluffton Police Department.
Sunday, 4:11 a.m., residence in the 100 block of Greenbriar Drive in the Willowbrook addition. Caller reported someone was walking around at the end of the caller’s driveway and flashing a flashlight. Officer responded but whoever it was had left.
Sunday, 5:25 a.m., Walmart Supercenter, 2100 N. Main St. Officer and Wells County EMS responded on a report of a person who had suffered superficial cuts from a stray cat.
Sunday, 7:28 a.m., Ind. 116 just east of the Bluffton city limits. Bluffton officer removed a dead dog from the road.
Sunday, 12:27 p.m., Valley Park apartments, 320 W. Dustman Road. Officer requested to mediate a citizen dispute.
Sunday, 4:05 p.m., Indiana Pancake House, 919 N. Main St. Burglar alarm. Officers responded. Alarm accidentally tripped by an employee.
Sunday, 6:42 p.m., caller reported white van weaving all over the road northbound on 450E from Ind. 124. The van was tracked to Walnut Hills mobile home park where Terry Lee Carr, 48, Bluffton, was arrested on charges of battery on a public safety official, a Level 6 felony; operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated with a prior conviction for the same or a similar offense, a Level 6 felony; operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated endangering a person, a Class A misdemeanor; disorderly conduct, a Class B misdemeanor; and criminal mischief, a Class B misdemeanor. Bond set at $26,000.
Sunday, 6:45 p.m., residence in the 900 block of South Main Street. Caller reported that two adults and a teen — all females — were in her backyard trespassing. She told an officer the three had stolen from her in the past. An officer noted that the issue was actually a civil issue over cats. The three females left.
Monday, 6:22 a.m., Main Motel, 1005 S. Main St. Loud verbal altercation between a man and a woman. Officers responded. Situation calmed, parties separated.
County:
Friday, 3:37 p.m., Silo Farms mobile home park, 11080N-Ind. 1. Caller reported that a resident of the park had piling up mail and newspapers at his residence, which was uncommon for that resident. Officers responded and noted that the front door of the mobile home was unlocked. They entered the residence and located a deceased male already in a state of decay. Wells County Coroner contacted.
Friday, 5:01 p.m., Silo Farms, 11080N-Ind. 1. Caller reported her daughter was being threatened via social media with a beating by other students.
Saturday, 1:47 a.m., 600E north of 1100N. Report of an electrical pole down in the roadway. About a third of a mile further up the road, a Chevrolet Tahoe with front end damage was parked in the middle of the road. The vehicle was registered to a Brianna Stone of Fort Wayne. While deputies were awaiting the arrival of a crew from Indiana Michigan Power, Stone’s mother returned her to the accident scene. Stone advised that she had been driving home from a work party, fell asleep at the wheel, veered off the road and hit the pole. She was unsure of what to do next so she started walking and called her mother to come pick her up. Stone passed a Breathalyzer test. She suffered a minor head injury in the crash.
Saturday, 10:38 a.m., farm property on 1000S west of 200W. Caller reported someone had been driving an all-terrain vehicle on her property.
Saturday, 2:58 p.m., 900S at 300W. Caller reported a suspicious middle-aged man was driving a large white passenger van around slowly and stopping at houses. Deputy located the van and the man who said he was passing out invitations for a church ice cream social.
Saturday, 4:30 p.m., 1100S at 500E. Caller reported a boy too young to drive was driving a blue Chevrolet. Deputy checked the area, but did not see any child driving a vehicle.
Saturday, 7:30 p.m., 800S at 1100W. Caller reported someone drove over a construction barrier.
Saturday, 7:45 p.m., Ind. 3 south of 700S. Two trees blown down into the electric wires.
Saturday, 10:27 p.m., 500W at Oak Road. Caller reported hearing someone shooting a gun. Officer responded and checked the area but did not hear any gunshots.
Sunday, 1:07 a.m., Ind. 116 northwest of 300W. Caller reported a power outage in the area and could see a car parked in the middle of the road with its hazard lights on. The car then left the area. Deputy responded and located a pole with a broken guy wire and parts of a maroon car sideview mirror nearby. The deputy then learned from the Markle police officer on duty that the officer had stopped a maroon vehicle with mirror damage and grass in the tires on Ind. 116 at U.S. 224. The deputy observed in his report that the driver of the car, identified as Sara M. Wilhite, 29, rural Bluffton, appeared intoxicated, failed field sobriety tests and blew a .232 percent alcohol concentration equivalency on a Breathalyzer test — nearly three times Indiana’s legal limit for intoxication of .08 percent. After placing Wilhite under arrest, the deputy returned to the scene of the accident and spoke with workers from Heartland REMC. Reportedly when the vehicle struck the guy wire, it caused the wire to fly upward and make contact with the power lines causing the outage.
Sunday, 7:52 a.m., Wellsburg Road north of the bridge near Wells Burg. Sinkhole developing in the road. County highway department contacted.
Sunday, 2:44 p.m., Meridian Road north of 1100N. Caller reported his neighbors were trespassing in his field in a van. He left the van behind and the caller threatened he would shoot the neighbors if they returned to pick up the van. The caller also reported the same people had driven all over his freshly planted fields the day before trying to round up their cattle that had gotten loose. They had reportedly driven on the neighbor’s property to fill up the back of their van with tall grass from the caller’s property to feed their cattle. An officer explained to the people that they could not drive on property that does not belong to them.
Sunday, 7:18 p.m., caller reported a fawn injured by a mower was in the caller’s pole barn. Department of Natural Resources contacted.
Sunday, 7:46 p.m., Ind. 218 at 100W. Caller reported a white Ford 4-door sport utility vehicle was parked beside the road, There was a “heavy-set man” with a brown beard and black hair trying to put something in the back of the vehicle while two women were kicking him. Deputy dispatched and checked the area, but did not see any vehicle parked beside the road and none driving around anywhere nearby that matched the description given by the caller.
Sunday, 11:02 p.m., U.S. 224 east of Tocsin. Caller reported there were two men in the field across from the caller’s residence yelling and screaming at each other. Deputy responded and discovered evidence that farming had been taking place in the field, but did not see anyone yelling or arguing.
Monday, 3:28 a.m., Meridian Road north of 100S. While on patrol, a deputy spotted a vehicle that was pulled over to the side of the road. As the deputy approached, the vehicle pulled away from the ditch and started to head north on Meridian. The deputy was able to get his patrol vehicle behind the vehicle that had been parked by the side of the road and ran the license plate. The deputy discovered that the registered owner of the vehicle, Christeen Mills, also known as Christeen Eagleton, Marion, had an active warrant for her arrest out of Grant County Superior Court on one count of invasion of privacy, a Class A misdemeanor. The deputy noted in his report that the vehicle then turned east on Ind. 124 and he followed. The vehicle then drove into a private driveway
ACCIDENTS
City:
Tuesday, May 17, 4:39 p.m., Walmart parking lot, 2100 N. Main St. Darci M. King, 36, Bluffton, was driving a 2009 Chevrolet Tahoe into a parking space and clipped a parked 2009 Chrysler Town & Country van in the adjacent parking space. The van was registered to Nichole J. Smithley, Markle. Damage exceeded $5,000.
Friday, 10 a.m., parking lot for Dollar Tree, 935 N. Main St. Jeanine Gilgen, 64, Bluffton, exited a parking space in her 2014 GMC Terrain. Brandon Walser, 22, Berne, had just entered the parking lot and was driving east in a 2010 Ford Taurus. The collision between the two resulted in more than $2,500 damage.
Friday, 3:40 p.m., Eastmoor Drive at Parkview Drive, Bluffton Woods mobile home park. Skyler A. Millington, 25, Bluffton, was starting to pull away from a parallel parking space at the curb in his 2011 Lexus RX3. The left front corner of the car clipped the right rear corner of a 2002 Dodge Grand Caravan driven by Roger D. Gerber, 72, Bluffton, as Gerber was driving past. Damage exceeded $2,500.
Saturday, 10:47 a.m., parking lot of Millie’s restaurant, 1070 N. Main St. Danny L. Bonifus, 67, Kingsland, was backing a 2006 Hyundai Elantra out of a parking space as Lois A. Curtis, 37, Van Buren, was backing a 2013 Nissan Pathfinder out of a parking space opposite of Bonifus. Curtis said she realized what was about to happen and stopped but Bonifus kept moving. The Elantra hit the Pathfinder causing less than $1,000 in damage.
Saturday, 3:17 p.m., Pak-A-Sak convenience store, 904 S. Main St. Adam C. Neuenschwander, 35, Bluffton, was backing a 2012 Honda Odyssey out of a parking space, just as Lois A. Crist, 45, Bluffton, was exiting one of the gasoline islands in her 2013 Chevrolet Camaro. The ensuing collision caused less than $1,000 damage.
FIRES
Monday, 4:07 a.m., Leisa Daugherty residence, 2980 W. Walnut St., Liberty Center. House fire. Liberty Township, Uniondale, Poneto and Bluffton fire departments dispatched. As firefighters were arriving, the house was already engulfed in flames. Daugherty, the sole occupant, managed to exit safely, but her pets perished in the fire. The cause of the fire is unknown but started in the bedroom of the residence and was discovered by Daugherty. Firefighters were on the scene until 9:30 a.m. Ramseyer Excavating was called in to demolish the remains of the house to prevent it from possibly rekindling and posing a danger to the structures around it. No firefighters were injured battling the blaze. The house reportedly had an assessed value of about $50,000.
ARRESTS
Kelly Allison Kipp, 59, Bluffton; invasion of privacy, a Class A misdemeanor. Bond set at $25,000.
Jaquawn Lynn Jackson, 26, Fort Wayne; failure to appear in court from a Sept. 30, 2019, sentencing hearing for operating a motor vehicle while never having been issued a driver’s license, a Class A misdemeanor, and speeding, a Class C infraction.
TICKETS
Dalton T. Cochran, 25, Fort Wayne; failure to register a vehicle, Main Street at Sutton Circle.
Zoe S. Bestmann, 28, Indianapolic, 50 mph-35 zone, Clark Ave. at McConnell Drive.
Beth S. Lewis, 58, Bluffton; 45 mph-30 zone, Jackson Street in the Lancaster School speed zone.
