Wells Superior Court
Criminal Cases
Michael J. Horstmeyer, 20, listed as homeless, pleaded guilty to resisting law enforcement, a Class A misdemeanor.
Sentenced to a year in the Wells County Jail, all suspended, and placed on probation for one year.
Assessed court costs and probation fees.
A Bluffton police officer attempted to serve an Adams County warrant for arrest on Horstmeyer outside of a residence in the 400 block of East Wiley Avenue March 28. Horstmeyer reportedly repeatedly backed away from the officer and refused to comply with his commands before she finally backed into the exterior wall of a house and was taken into custody.
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Ryan Martin Charleston, 40, Bluffton, pleaded guilty to operating a vehicle while intoxicated endangering a person with a prior conviction for the same or a similar offense, a Level 6 felony.
Sentenced to 545 days in prison, with all but 180 days suspended, and placed on probation for 365 days.
Credited for 108 days spent in confinement awaiting disposition of his case.
Ordered to undergo substance abuse counseling, pay for his blood test, court costs and probation fees.
As part of a plea agreement, charges of auto theft, a Level 6 felony; driving while suspended with a prior conviction for the same offense, a Class A misdemeanor; and disorderly conduct, a Class B misdemeanor were all dismissed.
On March 12, Bluffton police received a report from a woman that she had discovered that her 2015 Chevrolet Malibu had been stolen in Decatur and had reported it as stolen to the Decatur Police Department. She told Bluffton police that she had received word that the vehicle was parked at a Bluffton residence.
An officer went to the Arnold Street address given by the woman and there located a vehicle matching the description of the stolen Malibu.
The officer cruised past and noticed that the vehicle was unoccupied. He drove on to speak with the woman who had filed the report.
A second officer who also was at the scene, reported witnessing a man exit the residence across the street from where the vehicle was parked, get into it and start driving it away eastbound on Arnold Street. The vehicle then pulled into a parking spot south of Washington Park.
A man, later identified as Charleston, exited the vehicle and started walking toward one of the officers with his hands in the air. Reportedly he told the officer he wasn’t going to lie, that he had taken and driven the vehicle, but claimed the woman had given him the keys to drive the vehicle.
The officer took Charleston to the Bluffton Police Department for questioning. During the interview the officer noted that Charleston smelled of alcohol, appeared intoxicated and admitted to having drank alcohol. A Breathalyzer test showed his alcohol concentration equivalency to be .180 percent.
The officer observed in his report that Charleston admitted to having taken the vehicle from a residence in Decatur but then became upset and belligerent when asked to perform field sobriety tests.
He reportedly refused to have his blood taken. A warrant was issued and his blood was taken at Bluffton Regional Medical Center.
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Roger Lee Fox, also known as Roger L. Fox III, 18, Bluffton, pleaded guilty to intimidation of a law enforcement officer, a Level 6 felony, operating a vehicle while intoxicated endangering a person, a Class A misdemeanor, and cruelty to an invertebrate animal, a Class A misdemeanor.
Sentenced to 910 days in prison with all but 226 days suspended, on the intimidation charge; 226 days in the Wells County Jail, fully executed, on the intoxicated driving charge, and one year in the Wells County Jail , all suspended, on the cruelty to an animal charge.
The terms of the sentences are to be served consecutive to each other.
Placed on probation for 1,049 days.
Ordered to undergo substance abuse counseling, submit a DNA sample, pay for his blood tests as well as court costs and probation fees.
As part of a plea agreement, charges of resisting law enforcement by use of a vehicle, a Level 6 felony; unlawful possession of a hypodermic syringe, a Level 6 felony; reckless driving, a Class A misdemeanor; resisting law enforcement, a Class A misdemeanor; possession of a Schedule I, II, III, or IV controlled substance, a Class A misdemeanor; possession of marijuana, a Class B misdemeanor; two counts of knowingly or intentionally operating a motor vehicle without ever having received a driver’s license, both Class C misdemeanors; and improper or no taillights and/or license plate light, a Class C infraction, were all dismissed.
While waiting at the stop sign at Spring Street and Clark Avenue Jan. 7, a sheriff’s deputy spotted a southbound vehicle on Clark that had visible front end damage. The vehicle attempted a left turn onto Spring Street to head east and in the process turned too wide and nearly hit a street sign, a large wooden post and decorative rocks near the intersection.
The deputy noted in his report to the court that the driver — later identified as Fox — then backed up the 2010 Ford Fusion he was driving and attempted the turn again. Again, the deputy noted, Fox turned too wide and almost hit the rocks, the sign and the post. He successfully completed the turn on his third try.
That behavior caused the deputy to suspect Fox might be driving impaired. The deputy turned his patrol vehicle around and followed Fox.
The deputy observed that Fox started driving the Ford eastbound in the westbound lane, swerved back into his own lane, dropped off the right side of the road, then swerved back across the center line. The deputy had already activated his emergency lights, but at this point he activated his siren. Fox allegedly sped the Ford Fusion up to 70 mph in what the deputy believed was an intentional effort to avoid law enforcement.
As Fox approached the intersection with Main Street, he approached from behind a 2018 Jeep Commander that was stopped at the traffic light. Fox allegedly did not even slow down, but slammed into the back of the Jeep at 76 mph.
The impact was so severe, the Jeep spun 270 degrees off the southeast corner of the intersection. The Fusion spun around 180 degrees and ended up in the middle of the intersection.
At that point, a Bluffton police officer who had been driving west on East Spring Street, reportedly witnessed the accident and knew the deputy had been pursuing the Fusion. The officer checked on the driver of the Jeep and learned she was not injured.
The deputy and the officer then approached Fox and ordered him to exit his vehicle at gunpoint. Allegedly Fox disobeyed the commands at first but then finally exited the vehicle, but did not follow officer’s commands to lie on the ground stomach down. Wells County EMS and Bluffton Fire Rescue were already en route to the scene as were several other Bluffton police officers.
A female passenger in Fox’s vehicle was checked for minor injuries.
In the crash debris scattered around the collision scene, a police officer reportedly found two hypodermic syringes and two bars of the prescription anti-anxiety medication Xanax, a Schedule IV controlled substance.
Fox was taken to the ambulance dispatched to the scene, but reportedly was combative and abusive, spitting on the people who were trying to render him aid.
He allegedly admitted to having taken drugs in an attempt to “try to keep everyone alive.”
At the hospital, Fox continued to be combative and threatened to kill the law enforcement officers and their families.
Then, in February, Fox and a second man were 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 digs while serving an arrest warrant at the residence for an unrelated matter on 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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