Wells Superior Court
Criminal Cases
Andrew J. Atkinson, 56, Liberty Center, pleaded guilty to resisting law enforcement, a Level 6 felony, and operating a vehicle with an alcohol concentration equivalency of .15 percent or more, a Class A. misdemeanor.
Sentenced to a year in prison on the resisting charge and a year and a year in the Wells County Jail on the intoxicated driving charge. The sentences are to be served concurrently. All but four days of each sentence were suspended and credited as time served. Placed on probation for 361 days.
Ordered to serve 120 days of home detention and pay court costs and probation fees.
Driver’s license suspended for 30 days.
As part of a plea agreement, charges of operating a vehicle while intoxicated endangering a person, a Class A misdemeanor; and Class C infractions of speeding (three counts), dismissed.
On June 22, Bluffton police received a report of a man standing with his pants halfway down next to a red truck on Market Street. As an officer approached the area, he reportedly saw a red truck driving away. He turned his patrol vehicle around and started following the truck, which it had already put some distance between the officer’s patrol vehicle and the truck.
The officer then noticed the same truck coming toward him at Market and Bond streets. The truck turned south on Bond Street then west onto Washington Street. The officer followed.
The pickup truck then reportedly began to accelerate away and continued to do so even after the officer activated the emergency lights on his patrol vehicle.
The truck continued west onto Washington Street and then reportedly turned west on Cherry Street (the two streets intersect at a slight triangle) without stopping or signaling the turn. The truck then allegedly accelerated rapidly westward from the intersection at speeds of 70 mph in a 30 mph zone.
At Adams Street — where Cherry Street ends at a T-intersection — the red truck allegedly accelerated southbound on Adams at 80- mph-45 zone. The vehicle continued south to 100S, turned west and then came to a stop.
Other officers had joined in the chase at this point and they ordered the driver, later identified as Atkinson, out of the pickup truck at gunpoint.
The investigating officer noted in his report that Atkinson surrendered without incident, smelled of alcohol, appeared intoxicated and blew a .186 percent alcohol concentration of a Breathalyzer test.
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Iris Pamela Trejo Navarro, 19, Fort Wayne, pleaded guilty to knowingly or intentionally operating a motor vehicle while never having been issued a driver’s license, a Class C misdemeanor.
Assessed a fine of $14.50 and court costs of $185.50.
One count of no or improper headlights, a Class C infraction, dismissed.
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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Serena Rae Dowell, 25, Ossian, violated probation by failing to report to her probation officer Oct. 13-17 — all in 2021 — as required.
Ordered to serve 538 days in prison and pay $755 in fees.
Upon completion of her sentence, her probation will be terminated.
Dowell was originally sentenced Sept. 23, 2021, on charges of unlawful possession or use of a legend drug, 1 Level 6 felony, and failure to appear, a Class A misdemeanor.
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Breeanna Britt, 25, Bluffton, violated probation by testing positive for cocaine during a random drug screening Dec. 9, 2021; testing positive for THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, Jan. 10; being suspended from substance abuse counseling at Park Center; testing positive for the prescription pain killer buprenorphine Feb. 23; failing to honestly answer all reasonable questions asked by her probation officer Feb. 23; testing positive for methamphetamine amphetamine, cocaine, benzolecgonine (the psychoactive ingredient in cocaine), THC, and fentanyl during a random drug screening March 18; testing positive for methamphetamine, amphetamine, cocaine, benzoylecgonine and THC during a random drug screening April 1, and failing to report to her probation officer April 13.
Ordered to serve 412 days in prison and pay $645 in fees.
Upon completion of her sentence her probation will terminate.
Britt, who known as Breeanna Dedrick at the time of her July 23, 2021, sentencing, was originally sentenced for neglect of a dependent, a Level 6 felony.
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One-day jury trial set for 9 a.m. Dec. 18 for Kelly A. Kipp, 59, Bluffton, charged with two counts of invasion of privacy, both Class A misdemeanors.
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Stating that it was in the interest of justice, charges of possession of marijuana, a Class B misdemeanor, and possession of drug paraphernalia, a Class C misdemeanor, were dismissed for Mitchell D. Bozarth, 61, Bluffton.
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Jacob Mj Schwartz, 49, rural Bluffton, violated probation by being arrested in Jay County for possession of methamphetamine, a Level 6 felony, and operating a vehicle while intoxicated, a Class C misdemeanor.
Ordered to serve 130 days in the Wells County Jail
Upon completion of his sentence, his probation will terminate.
Schwartz was originally sentenced May 16 on one count of leaving the scene of a property damage accident, a Class B misdemeanor.
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Probation terminated satisfactorily Brittany Leanne Elliott, 32, Fort Wayne.
Wells Circuit Court
Criminal Cases
Preliminary plea of not guilty entered for Dillon Ray Burnell, 27, Bluffton, charged with intimidation by use of a deadly weapon, a Level 5 felony. Bond continued at $60,000. Larry Mock appointed public defender.
At 6:34 a.m. Sept. 20, Bluffton police responded to a residence in the 400 block of West Townley Street on a report that one brother had threatened another with a knife. Burnell was reportedly one of the brothers.
The officer investigating the incident noted in his report to the court that Burnell had threatened — and allegedly attempted — to stab his brother after the brother became angry with Burnell over Burnell eating the brother’s leftover pizza.
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Kyle Blake, 37, Ossian, pleaded guilty to felon in possession of a handgun, a Level 5 felony.
Sentenced to three years in prison, all suspended, and placed on probation for two years.
Credited for one day spent in confinement awaiting disposition of his case. Said credit of days are to be considered in assessing good conduct time credit.
The firearm seized as part of the investigation was ordered destroyed or disposed.
Ordered to submit a DNA sample and pay court costs and probation fees.
As part of a plea agreement, two counts of possession of a controlled substance, both Level 6 felonies; one count of possession of marijuana, a Class A misdemeanor; and one count of possession of drug paraphernalia, a Class C misdemeanor, were all dismissed.
On Dec. 16, 2021, an Ossian police officer was monitoring traffic on North Jefferson Street in Ossian when he spotted a vehicle pass by that appeared to be following the vehicle ahead of it at a distance of less than two car lengths. The Ossian officer pulled out behind the vehicle and pulled it over in the parking lot of the Ossian Deli.
The officer noted in his report that he could smell an odor of both raw and burned marijuana coming from the interior of the vehicle. The officer asked Blake about the odor and he reportedly replied he had smoked marijuana in the vehicle a couple days earlier.
Then the officer informed Blake that with the smell and his admission he had smoked marijuana, the officer would be searching the vehicle. At that point Blake allegedly willing volunteered a cup from the center console that contained two small “roaches,” a slang term for the remains of a marijuana cigarette.
A search of the vehicle allegedly turned up a “one-hitter,” — a slang term for a glass pipe that contains a small amount of marijuana, and a rubber “dabs” container in the driver’s side door. Dabs are a waxy substance made with concentrated THC oil. THC is the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana.
The officer also reported finding two large pieces of plant material that had the odor and appearance of marijuana.
The officer also found a backpack in the vehicle and inside there was allegedly a jar containing a small amount of a green leafy substance with the odor and appearance of marijuana, three digital scales, several small bags of dried psilocybin mushrooms and a white canister with a small plastic bag inside that contained seeds.
Also inside the bag was a black Ruger 9 millimeter handgun containing a loaded clip in a holster.
A further search of the vehicle allegedly turned up a small plastic bag containing four green pills that Blake allegedly admitted were ecstasy, the street name for 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, an illegal substance that can cause hallucinations.
