Wells Superior Court
Criminal Cases
Allen, W. Kelso, 55, Bluffton, pleaded guilty to one count of theft, a Class A misdemeanor.
Sentenced to 180 days in the Wells County Jail and assessed court costs of $185.50.
As part of a plea agreement, one count of theft, also a Class A misdemeanor, was dismissed.
Store personnel at the Save-On Liquor store on South Main Street recognized Kelso when he came into the store Oct. 2, 2020, and then proceeded to shoplift a bottle of Moet Imperial Brut champagne valued at $54.99 and a bottle of Ciroc vodka valued at $36.99.
The thefts were also captured on the store’s video surveillance system.
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Tavis James Beavans, 37, Bluffton, pleaded guilty to operating a vehicle with an alcohol concentration equivalency of .08 percent or more, a Class C misdemeanor, and possession if marijuana, a Class B misdemeanor.
Sentenced to 180 days in the Wells County Jail on the B misdemeanor. All but two days of that sentence were suspended. Sentenced to 60 days in the Wells County Jail on the Class C misdemeanor, with all but six days suspended. In each case, the terms of sentence not suspended were credited as time served.
Placed on probation for 359 days in the C misdemeanor and 359 days in the B misdemeanor.
Ordered to serve 54 days of home detention, pay for his blood test, court costs and probation fees.
The probation term for the C misdemeanor will expire upon completion of the term of home detention.
As part of a plea agreement, one count of possession of drug paraphernalia with a prior conviction for the same offense, a Class A misdemeanor, was dismissed.
On April 5 a Bluffton police officer responded to a report of a domestic disturbance at the intersection of Townley and Johnson streets. When the officer arrived, he spotted a vehicle pulled off to the side of the street and identified Beavans as the driver of the vehicle. The female half of the alleged dispute was reportedly walking away from the vehicle. Beavans asked the officer if he could pull the vehicle onto Johnson Street, which he did, pulling the vehicle he was driving into an area behind the officer’s patrol vehicle.
While speaking with Beavans about the domestic disturbance, the officer observed in his report to the court that Beavans smelled of alcohol. A portable Breathalyzer test reportedly showed Beavans’ alcohol concentration equivalency to be .141 percent, well in excess of Indiana’s legal limit for intoxication of .08 percent.
Then, on July 1, police responded to a medical emergency at Beavans’ Jersey Street residence and found him unresponsive and barely breathing in the kitchen of the residence.
Reportedly Beavans was revived with two doses of Narcan. While inside the residence, an officer reportedly noticed a bong along with a small plastic bag containing a green leafy substance with the odor and appearance of marijuana.
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Todd Craigmiles, 49, Berne, pleaded guilty to possession of drug paraphernalia, a Class C misdemeanor.
Sentenced to 60 days in the Wells County Jail, all suspended, and placed on probation for 365 days.
Ordered to pay court costs and probation fees.
A state trooper was monitoring traffic on Main Street near Division Street April 27 when he spotted a vehicle without a license plate light and pulled it over.
The trooper observed the interior of the vehicle smelled like marijuana. Craigmiles, the driver, reportedly admitted to the trooper he had a pipe to smoke marijuana with in the vehicle.
The trooper found the pipe and it allegedly contained a small amount of marijuana residue, but not enough to result in a charge of possession of marijuana.
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Dalton James Dowell, 27, Bluffton, pleaded guilty to battery resulting in bodily injury, a Class A misdemeanor.
Sentenced to 10 days in the Wells County Jail.
The term of the sentence is to be served consecutively to any term which is meted in Wells Circuit Court for violating probation from an April 19 sentencing for unlawful use or possession of a legend drug, a Level 6 felony, and consecutively with a term to be meted in DeKalb County Superior Court for violating the terms of a sentence from Dec. 15, 2021, on one count of resisting law enforcement, a Level 6 felony.
He was also ordered to pay $185 in court costs.
As part of a plea agreement, a second count of battery resulting in bodily injury, a Class A misdemeanor, was dismissed.
Dowel and Jared J. West, 34, Ossian, were both incarcerated at the Wells County Jail April 28 on separate charges when they battered another inmate during an argument in the jail’s H block common area over the inmate “stitching” on another inmate allegedly resulting in that inmate’s arrest.
West is awaiting trial on charges of disorderly conduct and two counts of battery, all Class B misdemeanors, in connection with the incident.
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Tori J. Carter, 23, Bluffton, pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance, a Class A misdemeanor, and possession of marijuana, a Class B misdemeanor.
Sentenced to a year in the Wells County Jail, with all but two days suspended — credited as time served, on the A misdemeanor, and to no term of incarceration at all on the B misdemeanor.
Placed on probation for 363 days.
Ordered to pay court costs, probation fees and a drug interdiction fee.
As part of a plea agreement, one count of possession of drug paraphernalia, a Class C misdemeanor, was dismissed.
An Indiana State Police trooper was patrolling Main Street April 27 when he was informed by a Bluffton police officer that a Pontiac Grand Am was heading the trooper’s direction. The car, the officer reported, had a broken windshield and an expired license plate. The trooper pulled the vehicle over in the parking lot of The Budget Inn on North Main Street.
Philip A. Chalmers, 52, Marion was the driver and Carter was the passenger.
The trooper obtained permission from Chalmers to search the vehicle and, with the assistance of a Wells County Deputy Sheriff, they reportedly found a a small blue pill in a cigarette pack. Both Carter and Chalmers reportedly denied ever having seen the pill. The trooper was able to identify the pill as Vyvanse, a Schedule II controlled substance for control of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
Suspecting illegal drug activity by the couple, the trooper questioned Carter if there was anything illegal in the motel room where they were staying at the Budget Inn. Carter allegedly admitted there was both marijuana and drug paraphernalia.
Chalmers reportedly became agitated but granted the trooper permission to search the room. During the course of the search, a metal tray was located in the night stand of the room. On the tray were Zig-zag rolling papers, a black cylinder containing a green leafy substance with the odor and appearance of marijuana, a round container with “dabs” — a slang term for a waxy substance containing THC oil, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, a metal pipe containing a substance with the odor and appearance of burned marijuana and a vape cartridge that reportedly contained THC oil.
Chalmers awaits trial on charges of possession of marijuana, a Class A misdemeanor, and possession of drug paraphernalia, a Class C misdemeanor.
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Aboubakar Souleimane, 32, Fort Wayne, pleaded guilty to driving while suspended, 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 pay court costs and probation fees.
If he obtains valid driving privileges and pays all of his costs and fees, his probation may terminate early.
As part of a plea agreement, one count of knowingly or intentionally operating a motor vehicle without ever receiving a driver’s license, a Class C misdemeanor, and improper or no taillights and/or license plate light, a Class C infraction, were dismissed.
A sheriff’s deputy was monitoring traffic on Ind. 1 near 700N May 18 when he spotted a northbound vehicle that did not have an operable license plate light. He pulled 2010 Chrysler Town & Country van over and spoke with Souleimane.
Souleimane reportedly told the deputy he had had a driver’s license when he lived in Chad, but did not have any driver’s license issued through any state in the United States. He claimed that he had an “international driver’s license” however such licenses are not recognized as valid in Indiana.
Souleimane had two prior convictions for driving while suspended — one in Wabash County Aug. 14, 2020, and one in Allen County Dec. 21, 2012.
Civil Cases
Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles ordered to issue a replacement title for 1986 Sea Nymph boat to Brian R. Shutt, rural Ossian.
