Wells Superior Court
Criminal Cases
Brandon J. Rainey, 26, Bluffton, pleaded guilty to theft, with a prior conviction for the same or a similar offense, a Level 6 felony.
Sentenced to a year in prison, with all but 52 days suspended — credited as time served, and placed on probation for 313 days.
Ordered to serve 120 days of home detention, submit a DNA sample, pay $55.85 in restitution to his victim, court costs and probation fees.
As part of a plea agreement, a second count of theft with a prior conviction for the same or a similar offense, a Level 6 felony, and driving while suspended with a prior conviction for the same offense, a Class A misdemeanor, were both dismissed.
On Feb. 1, a woman came to the Bluffton Police Department and reported that her Ring video surveillance camera had captured video of a man stealing packages from her front porch on two separate occasions.
The first theft was Jan. 28 in which video showed a man who rode up to the residence on a bicycle stealing packages containing three books from Barnes & Noble booksellers from the woman’s front porch. Each book had a value of $9.62.
Then, later in the day, the camera captured an image of what appeared to be the same man on the porch, but this time he had driven up to the residence in a dark-colored Dodge Journey. The camera caught an image of the man stealing a package from Amazon containing a three-barrel curling iron.
Video from a nearby convenience store also reportedly captured images of the same vehicle driving away from the residence down an alley adjacent to the store. The video was reportedly sharp enough to show the license plate of the vehicle.
While checking the neighborhood, the investigating officer located a 2015 Dodge Journey parked nearby that matched the image on the video with a license plate that also matched. It was registered to Rainey’s wife. Rainey, reportedly, has a suspended driver’s license.
Officers had an earlier encounter with Rainey after responding to a domestic disturbance at his residence and the officer investigating the porch pirating noted that the man in the video and Rainey both had identical unique facial hair.
The officer obtained a search warrant and searched the apartment. Reportedly in a cupboard under the bathroom sink, the officers searching the residence located a new, still-in-the-box, curling iron that was identical to the one reported stolen.
Also allegedly located were clothing and a hat that were identical to the clothes and hat worn by the male suspect in the video.
Located in the utility shed behind the house was a bicycle that appeared to be an exact match of the bicycle in the first video.
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Lonnie Gene Pettit II, 34, Bluffton, violated probation by failing to comply with the counseling requirement of his sentencing and failing to pay all of the financial obligations ordered during his sentencing.
Probation extended six months.
Pettit was originally sentenced May 28, 2021, on one count of operating a vehicle with an alcohol concentration equivalency of .08 percent or more, with a prior conviction for the same offense, a Level 6 felony.
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Emma Sue Clines, 22, Bluffton, pleaded guilty to operating a vehicle while intoxicated with a prior conviction for the same or a similar offense, a Level 6 felony.
Ordered to serve two years in prison, with all but 14 days suspended, and placed on probation for 540 days.
Credited for two days spent incarcerated awaiting disposition of her case.
Ordered to serve 270 days of home detention, pay for the costs of her blood test, court costs and probation fees.
As part of a plea agreement, charges of operating a vehicle with an alcohol concentration equivalency of .08 percent or more with a prior conviction for the same offense, a Level 6 felony; possession of marijuana, a Class B misdemeanor; possession of drug paraphernalia, a Class C misdemeanor; driving while suspended, a Class A infraction; and speeding, a Class C infraction, were all dismissed.
A sheriff’s deputy was monitoring traffic on Ind. 1 at 400N at 1:04 a.m. Dec. 16, 2021, when he reported Clines passed by where he was posted driving 70 mph-55 zone.
The deputy pulled the vehicle over near 300N. He observed in his report to the court that Clines appeared intoxicated, failed standardized field sobriety tests and blew a .103 percent breath alcohol concentration on certified breath test machine at the Wells County Jail. The legal limit for intoxication in Indiana is .08 percent.
In the course of placing her under arrest, the deputy reported finding a small plastic bag containing a green leafy plant material that had the odor and appearance of marijuana in Clines’ right coat pocket. In her left coat pocket he reported finding an e-lquid vaporizer with a e-liquid cartridge from Muha Meds, a company that dispenses e-liquid containing THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana.
Clines had two prior conviction for driving while intoxicated — one in Allen County Superior Court Aug. 17, 2021, and the other in Michigan July 19, 2021.
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Order of conditional discharge entered for Madison Renee Hoffacker, 25, Bluffton, charged with possession of marijuana, a Class B misdemeanor, and possession of drug paraphernalia, a Class C misdemeanor.
Ordered to pay $100.
If she successfully completes the requirements of the Wells County Probation Department during the one-year period in which the proceedings against her are deferred, then the case will be dismissed.
Bluffton police officers were serving a warrant for arrest on a Bluffton resident March 15 when a Wells County Probation officer requested that the police officers search the residence. When a person is on probation, they give up their rights to warrantless searches.
During the search, the officers reportedly found a black purse and inside the purse. Reportedly inside the purse was a glass pipe that allegedly contained a green leafy substance with the odor and appearance of marijuana.
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Ginger Lynn Bell, 51, Hartford City, pleaded guilty to theft, 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 court costs and probation fees.
On June 10, Bell entered a store with a large purse, walked over to the food section of the store and proceeded to stuff the purse full of food items. She then came to the checkout aisle and paid for fish sticks and tried to leave the store, but set off the shoplifting alarm. An employee confronted her and told her to give the items back. She reportedly denied having anything, even though the employee noted that she entered the store with a flat purse and was leaving the store with a purse stuffed full of items. She then set the alarm off again as she exited the store.
Video surveillance in the store also reportedly captured images of Bell entering the store, stuffing her purse, paying for the fish sticks, and leaving.
The employee got the license plate number of the vehicle that left and Bluffton police traced it to Bell at the Linger Inn.
