Wells Superior Court
Criminal Cases
Preliminary plea of not guilty entered for Cortney Monteze Haney, 32, Fort Wayne, charged with two counts of counterfeiting and theft wherein the value of the item alleged stolen exceeds $750 but is less than $50,000. Bond set at $5,000. Larry Mock appointed public defender.
On Aug. 10, Haney is alleged to have attempted to pass a fraudulent paycheck for $2,468.73 at the First Bank of Berne Bluffton branch. The teller on duty was familiar with the business that the check was purported to have been written by and noticed that there was just something not quite right about it.
She contacted the business owner who not only told her that he did not know Haney nor had ever heard of him, the number on the check was too high to be from the business owner’s checkbook.
Haney exited the bank empty-handed and was met by a couple officers from the Bluffton Police Department.
Haney was questioned and claimed the check was issued to him for one week’s work he did at the Wing Stop restaurant. The investigating officer told Haney that was hard to believe. Haney then reportedly corrected his story and said that a woman he did not know came up to him on the street and handed him the check to help him out with his rent. The officer doubted that story even more, so then Haney claimed he received the check in his mailbox.
Haney then reportedly told the officer that he was “down on his luck,” was behind in his rent and hadn’t eaten in five days — even though he reportedly had $200 in his pocket at the time he was detained — and was approached by “some guys” on Hannah Street in Fort Wayne who he didn’t know who offered him an opportunity to cash some checks and they would share some of the money with him.
He allegedly claimed that he was given a few checks and attempted to pass some in Fort Wayne, but was turned down at the banks where he attempted to cash them. He reportedly managed to pass one check at a bank in Decatur, but that was it. He also reportedly was apologetic.
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Preliminary plea of not guilty entered for Zander Gardenour, 18, Bluffton, charged with criminal mischief, a Class B misdemeanor. Bond continued at $1,000.
Gardenour and a juvenile boy are charged with lighting the contents of a dumpster on fire behind the Villa North Mall June 28.
Bluffton police had received a report of two boys behaving suspiciously in the area of the mall and an officer spotted two boys riding bicycles away from the mall. He stopped them both.
The officer then noticed the dumpster on fire and had the Bluffton Fire Department respond to put out the fire.
The officer noted in his report to the court that the juvenile upon questioning admitted that he had a bottle of cologne and a cigarette lighter. He allegedly admitted he and Gardenour decided to spray some trash in the dumpster and set it on fire.
Gardenour allegedly at first denied setting the fire, but upon further questioning, he allegedly admitted to starting the fire.
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Eric Smith Jr., 26, Bluffton, violated probation by testing positive for fentanyl Aug. 6.
Ordered to serve 30 days in the Wells County Jail. Credited for two days spent in confinement awaiting disposition of his case.
Smith was originally sentenced Nov. 19, 2021, on one count of domestic battery committed in the presence of a child less than 16 years of age, a Level 6 felony.
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Preliminary plea of not guilty entered for Shawn R. Nally, 51, Portland, charged with driving while intoxicated endangering a person with a prior conviction for the same offense, a Level 6 felony; possession of marijuana, a Class B misdemeanor; operating a vehicle with a Schedule I or II controlled substance or its metabolite in his body, a Class C misdemeanor; and no or improper taillights and/or license plate light, no headlights between dusk and dawn, and unsafe movement from lane to lane, all Class C infractions.
A Bluffton police officer was patrolling east on Market Street at 9:17 p.m. Aug. 9 when he saw a 2013 Chevrolet Malibu with no lights on. The Malibu reportedly swerved to the right and swerved back again. The officer pulled the vehicle over. Upon speaking with the driver, the officer reported the interior of the vehicle smelled of marijuana.
The officer, joined by other officers at this point, explained to Nally what he was smelling and asked him to perform field sobriety tests. Nally allegedly attempted to exit the Malibu with his seat belt still fastened.
Nally reportedly failed field sobriety tests. Marijuana was allegedly located on the passenger seat of the vehicle.
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Preliminary plea of not guilty entered for Robert P. Anderson, 34, Fort Wayne, charged with driving while suspended with a prior conviction, a Class A misdemeanor, and unsafe movement from lane to lane, a Class C infraction. Jeffrey Stineburg appointed public defender.
On Aug. 9, Bluffton police received a report from a female motorist that a dark-colored Chevrolet sport utility vehicle was tailgating her and when it passed her, it nearly hit oncoming traffic head-on. A Bluffton police officer set up in the 700 block of North Main Street and waited on the vehicle to pass by. When it did, he fell in behind it and watched its driving behavior.
As they approached Elm Street, the 2002 Chevrolet reportedly abruptly changed lanes at the part of Main Street that narrows from five lanes to three. The action allegedly caused another southbound vehicle to have to slam on its brakes to allow the vehicle into its lane. The officer then pulled the sport utility vehicle over at Poplar Street.
Anderson reportedly has five active suspensions against his license including the most recent one just 13 days earlier for having an excessive amount of points against his license.
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Preliminary plea of not guilty entered for Quillen Wade Riesen, 26, Vera Cruz, charged with driving while suspended with a prior conviction for the same offense, a Class A misdemeanor, and operating a motor vehicle without insurance, a Class A infraction.
A sheriff’s deputy was patrolling east on Harrison Road Aug. 10 when he decided to perform a check on the license plate of a 1999 Buick Century in front of him. The deputy discovered the registered owner — Quillen — had a suspended driver’s license. The deputy pulled the Buick over.
Quillen had a prior conviction in June in Adams County for driving while suspended and reportedly his license is not eligible for reinstatement until Nov. 8, 2024.
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Preliminary plea of not guilty entered for Kathleen Crawley, 30, Albany, charged with possession of marijuana, a Class B misdemeanor, and speeding, a Class C infraction.
On July 22, an Ossian police officer monitoring traffic from the entrance to the Ossian Town Hall clocked Crawley’s sport utility vehicle at 60 mph-45 zone. He fell in behind it and pulled it over near 800N.
The officer observed in his report that upon speaking with Crawley, he could smell an odor of marijuana wafting from the interior of the vehicle. Upon questioning, Crawley allegedly admitted to having smoked marijuana in the past but not the day of the traffic stop.
Upon further questioning, she reportedly handed the officer a small, white plastic bag containing a green leafy substance with the odor and appearance of marijuana.
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Preliminary plea of not guilty entered for Iris Pamela Trejo Nevarro, 19, Fort Wayne, charged with knowingly or intentionally operating a motor vehicle while never having been issued a driver’s license, a Class C misdemeanor; and no or improper headlights, a Class C infraction. Larry Mock appointed public defender.
A sheriff’s deputy was parked in the parking lot of the St. Joseph Catholic Church monitoring traffic on North Main Street Aug. 12 when he spotted a northbound 2007 Chevrolet Malibu that only had one working headlight. He pulled in behind it and pulled it over.
When the deputy asked her for her license, Navarro handed him a Fort Wayne identification card and allegedly told the deputy that she had never been issued a driver’s license.
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Preliminary plea of not guilty entered for Trey Daniel Redner, 29, Huntington, charged with operating a vehicle with an alcohol concentration equivalency of .15 percent or more, a Class A misdemeanor; operating a vehicle while intoxicated endangering a person, a Class A misdemeanor; unlawful stopping, standing or parking, a Class C infraction; and open alcoholic beverage container during operation of a motor vehicle, a Class C infraction. Pauper status denied.
A Bluffton police officer was patrolling northbound on Main Street Aug. 13 when she spotted a 2007 Saturn ahead of her going up and down in speed and weaving in its lane. The vehicle signalled a left turn onto Dustman Road but came to a stop at the red light in the intersection. It then reportedly turned wide when the light turned green.
The officer had seen enough and pulled the Saturn over at Dustman and Toll Circle.
The officer noted in her report that Redner appeared intoxicated, smelled of alcohol, failed field sobriety tests and blew a .151 percent alcohol concentration equivalency on a certified breath test conducted at the Wells County Jail.
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Preliminary plea of not guilty entered for Dane Jonathon Miller, 38, New Haven, charged with unlawful possession of a hypodermic syringe, a Level 6 felony. Bond continued at $5,000. Larry Mock appointed public defender.
It was 8:30 a.m. Feb. 4 when Bluffton police Bluffton Fire Department first responders and Wells County EMS were dispatched to the Airplane Express convenience store, 407 N. Main St., on a report of an unresponsive man in a men’s room stall. Miller was the man.
He was issued the anti-opiate Narcan and came around. A hypodermic syringe was allegedly found by an officer in Miller’s pocket.
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Tami Sue Halopoff, 49, Fort Wayne, pleaded guilty to operating a vehicle with an alcohol concentration equivalency of .08 percent or greater, a Class C misdemeanor.
Sentenced to 60 days in the Wells County Jail, with all but 30 days suspended. Granted good conduct time credit. Upon release from incarceration she is to be placed on probation for 335 days.
Ordered to report to a substance abuse program, pay a $200 Countermeasures fee, court costs and probation fees.
Charges of operating a vehicle while intoxicated, a Class C misdemeanor; and driving while suspended and operating a motor vehicle without insurance, both Class A infractions, were dismissed.
On July 30, 2020, an Ossian police officer received a report that a county man had been approached by several people seeking gas for their silver Pontiac Grand Am because the car had run out of gas. They wanted enough to get to a gas station in Ossian. The caller reported that the people appeared to be “out of it.”
The officer spotted a vehicle matching the description at the Ossian BP station with a woman in the driver’s seat. The car reportedly had no rear bumper and no license plate.
The car then left northbound on Jefferson Street. The officer pulled it over and observed that the driver was a man now, instead of the woman he had seen earlier. She had moved to the back seat of the car. The male driver admitted to the officer that he did not have his driver’s license with him. The officer asked the man why he was driving and he reportedly claimed that the woman, later identified as Halopoff, had asked him to.
Halopoff allegedly admitted to drinking earlier. She reportedly smelled of alcohol, appeared intoxicated, failed field sobriety tests and blew a .144 percent alcohol concentration equivalency on a Breathalyzer test.
Files Petition
A petitioln for nomination and consent for school board office elected in 2022 has been filed with the Wells County Clerk’s office by Peter Christopher Koiner, Bluffton, seeking election to the at-large position on the Board of Trustees of the Bluffton-Harrison Metropolitan School District.
