Wells Superior Court
Criminal Cases
Preliminary plea of not guilty entered for Sequoia Michelle Kennedy, 27, Bluffton, charged with domestic battery committed in the presence of a child less than 16 years old, a Level 6 felony, and battery resulting in bodily injury, a Class A misdemeanor. Bond continued at $5,000, surety only. Jeffrey Stineburg appointed public defender.
Bluffton police responded to a Miller Street residence June 10 on a report of a loud argument between two women and a man.
Kennedy is charged with battering the other female and the male during the argument.
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Carter A. Mealer, 24, Bluffton, charged with domestic battery committed in the presence of a child less than 16 years old, a Class A misdemeanor, reduced from a Level 6 felony.
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.
Ordered to report to a batter intervention program, placed on home detention for 60 days and ordered to pay court costs and probation fees.
Mealer was charged with battering a female roommate during an argument over a bottle of alcohol. The battery is alleged to have occurred in the presence of 2 one-year-old children at an apartment at Pine Grove Apartments June 12.
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Preliminary plea of not guilty entered for Cherity L. Ross, 46, rural Yoder, charged with operating a vehicle with an alcohol concentration equivalency of .15 percent or more with a prior conviction for the same or a similar offense, operating a vehicle while intoxicated with a prior conviction for the same offense, operating a vehicle after having been found to be an habitual traffic violator — all Level 6 felonies — and operating a motor vehicle with a false and/or fictitious license plate, failure to signal either a lane change or a turn, and open alcoholic beverage container during operation of a motor vehicle, all Class C infractions. Bond continued at $15,000. Larry Mock appointed public defender.
A sheriff’s deputy and an Ossian police officer were at a detail at Welches All Vehicle Repair on North Jefferson Street in Ossian on June 11, when a man approached them and pointed to the Ossian All American Deli across the street and said there was an obviously intoxicated woman inside the business.
At that moment, the woman in question walked out of the door and the investigating deputy noted in his report to the court that the woman did indeed appear to be inebriated by the way she was walking. She reportedly got into a car parked at the curb and drove away — circling the building and driving through the attached car wash in order to exit the business. The vehicle headed north on Jefferson and turned right onto Heyerly Drive where the deputy pulled it over.
Ross was reportedly the driver. The deputy observed in his report she smelled of alcohol, appeared intoxicated, failed field sobriety tests. She allegedly blew a .303 percent alcohol concentration equivalency on a Breathalyzer test. That is more than three times Indiana’s legal limit for intoxication of .08 percent.
Ross had a prior conviction in Allen County Superior Court Oct. 25, 2018, on one count of operating a vehicle while intoxicated endangering a person, a Class A misdemeanor. She also reportedly has been classified as an habitual traffic violator.
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Matthew J. Springer, 45, Roanoke, pleaded guilty to driving while suspended with a prior conviction for the same offense, a Class A misdemeanor.
Sentenced to a year in the Wells County Jail, with all but two days suspended — credited as time served, and placed on probation for 363 days.
Ordered to serve 60 days of home detention, pay his child support obligations, and pay court costs and probation fees.
As part of a plea agreement, one count of operating a motor vehicle without insurance with a prior conviction for the same offense, a Class C misdemeanor, was dismissed.
While on patrol June 11, a sheriff’s deputy stopped for a soda pop at the Ossian All American Deli. He noticed a man staring at him — who turned out to be Springer — and thought it was strange. The deputy decided to perform a license plate check on the 1999 Mitsubishi Springer had been driving and discovered that the registered owner, Springer, had a suspended driver’s license.
The deputy waited until Springer left in the Mitsubishi. The deputy radioed another deputy who pulled the car over.
Springer reportedly has multiple suspensions against his driver’s license and is not eligible for a license reinstatement until 2024.
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Order of conditional discharge entered for Vicki L. Wilson, 55, Bluffton, charged with possession of marijuana, a Class B misdemeanor.
The duration of deferred proceedings is one year. If she successfully completes the terms of the agreement, the charge against her will be dismissed.
Ordered to pay $100 in fees.
On June 11, a Bluffton police officer pulled over a car for driver’s side headlight being out. Wilson was a back seat passenger in the vehicle.
The officer noted in her report to the court that the interior of the vehicle smelled of burned marijuana. The occupants of the vehicle reportedly denied there was any marijuana in the vehicle. A second officer arrived to assist with the traffic stop.
The investigating officer ordered everyone out of the car. Wilson, upon further questioning, allegedly admitted that there might be marijuana in the vehicle. A search allegedly turned up two cigarette packs that in addition to cigarettes each allegedly contained a “blunt” — a cigar stuffed with marijuana.
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Brooke L. McClelland, 19, Bluffton, charged with minor in possession of alcohol, a Class C misdemeanor, was entered into a contract to withhold prosecution/pretrial diversion.
Ordered to undergo substance abuse evaluation, write a 500-word book report from one of the substance abuse books in the pre-trial diversion list, and pay court costs and probation fees.
Bluffton police responded to a report of an disturbance in an apartment at Pine Grove apartments June 12. One of the occupants of the apartment was McClelland.
The investigating officer reported that McClelland appeared intoxicated, smelled of alcohol and blew a .123 percent alcohol concentration equivalency on a Breathalyzer test. The officer also reported there were two bottles of Svedka Strawberry Lemondae Vodka in the apartment.
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Benjamin D. Shinneman, 32, Columbia City, pleaded guilty to operating a vehicle with an alcohol concentration equivalency of .15 percent or more, a Class A misdemeanor.
Sentenced to a year in the Wells County Jail, with all but two days suspended — credited as time served, and placed on probation for 363 days.
Ordered to serve 30 days of home detention, pay the costs associated with his blood test, court costs and probation fees.
As part of a plea agreement, charges of operating a vehicle while intoxicated, a Class C misdemeanor, and open alcoholic beverage container during operation of a motor vehicle, a Class C infraction, were dismissed.
At 2:29 a.m. March 17, Wells County Sheriff’s deputies were en route to an accident involving a Markle police officer who minutes earlier had hit a deer with his patrol car south of Markle.
While driving on Ind. 116 heading toward Markle, one of the deputies saw a fully-marked Fort Police Department Chevrolet Impala parked by the side of the road on Ind. 116 west of 300W.
Both deputies positioned their patrol vehicles behind the police car to try and find out why it was parked alongside the road.
As they approached the police car, they noticed that the driver appeared to be passed out with his hand on his in-car computer — as if he had been working on something. The 2016 Chevrolet Impala was running.
Campbell knocked on the window, but the driver, later identified as Shinneman, only awakened briefly and fell back asleep again. The deputy was concerned that Shinneman could be suffering from a medical condition, so he opened the car door.
That’s when both deputies reported that a smell of alcohol emanated from the vehicle. Brooksher turned the car off.
Campbell asked Shinneman what was going on and Shinneman reportedly replied “very good” and started working on his computer.
Campbell observed in his report to the court that he asked Shinneman several other questions, but Shinneman’s answers were incoherent. Cambell asked Shinneman to step out of the car, which he reportedly did but with some degree of difficulty.
Shinneman reportedly failed field sobriety tests and blew a .163 percent alcohol concentration equivalency on a certified breath test conducted at the Wells County Jail. That is more than twice Indiana’s legal limit for intoxication of .08 percent.
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Kurt Allen Gallmeyer, 55, New Haven, granted an expungement of all criminal records.
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Ryan Lawson, 43, New Haven, violated probation by failing to report to his probation officer Feb. 3, March 3, March 15, March 24, April 19 and May 3. and failing to comply with his counseling requirement by failing to attend appointments Jan. 21, Feb. 4, Feb. 23, March 30, and April 27.
Ordered to serve 960 days in prison and pay $400 in fees.
Upon completion of his sentence, his probation will terminate.
Lawson was originally sentenced Aug. 20, 2021, on charges of possession of methamphetamine, a Level 6 felony; operating a vehicle with a Schedule I or II controlled substance or its metabolite in his body, a Class C misdemeanor; violation of conditional driving requirements, a Class C misdemeanor; and failure to appear in court, a Level 6 felony.
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Ashley Elizabeth Medsker, 34, Ossian, pleaded guilty to possession of marijuana, a Class B misdemeanor.
Sentenced to 180 days in the Wells County Jail, all suspended, and placed on probation for one year.
Ordered to serve 60 days of home detention and pay court costs and probation fees.
An Ossian police officer pulled over a vehicle Medsker was a passenger in Feb. 25 after running the license plate and discovering that the registered owner had a suspended driver’s license. Neither the driver of the car nor Medsker were the registered owner.
The officer observed the interior of the vehicle smelled of burned marijuana. Medsker allegedly admitted to having smoked marijuana earlier but said she had tossed the “roach” — a slang term for a marijuana cigarette — out the window.
Because she admitted to marijuana usage, the car was searched. The officer reportedly located two jars of “dabs” — a slang term for a waxy substance derived from marijuana oil — in the vehicle. Medsker allegedly admitted that the dab jars were hers.
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Tyler James Flowers, 23, Bluffton, pleaded guilty to cruelty to an animal, a Class A misdemeanor.
Sentenced to a year in the Wells County Jail, all suspended, and placed on probation for 180 days.
Ordered to pay restitution in an amount to be determined as well as court costs and probation fees.
Flowers and a co-defendant in the case, Roger Lee Fox, 18, were arrested for failing to provide adequate food and water for two dogs at their North Oak Street residence Between Setember and December of 2021.
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 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.
Fox was sentenced May 5 on one count of cruelty to an animal, a Class A misdemeanor. At the time he received his sentence, he was also sentenced on charges connected to a separate unrelated case.
