Wells Superior Court
Criminal Cases
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.
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Preliminary plea of not guilty entered for Dennis D. Rogan, 31, Fort Wayne, charged with leaving the scene of a traffic accident with a prior conviction for the same offense, a Level 6 felony; 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; operating a vehicle with a Schedule I or II controlled substance or its metabolite in his body, a Class C misdemeanor; and operating a motor vehicle without insurance, a Class A infraction. Bond continued at $6,500.
On Nov. 23, 2021, sheriff’s deputies and other law enforcement officers responded to a report of a single vehicle crash on Ind. 1 south of 400N. The vehicle, a 2006 Pontiac G6, flipped onto its top at the entrance to a woods and the driver, later identified as Rogan, crawled out of the upsidedown car and fled into the woods. Rogan was later found by law enforcement about 40 yards from the crash in the woods.
Rogan reportedly told the investigating deputy that he was driving south on Ind. 1 between 60 and 70 mph passing vehicles when he tried passing one but swerved to avoid a string of oncoming vehicles, lost control of the vehicle he was driving, ran over a mailbox and the Pontiac rolled onto its top.
The deputy noted in his report to the court that Rogan smelled of alcohol but did not give an adequate breath sample. A blood test conducted at Bluffton Regional Medical Center reportedly showed his alcohol concentration equivalency to be .151 percent.
Civil Cases
Judgment and writ of possession entered for SMS Property Management, Fort Wayne, against Lawrence Dishong, Bluffton.
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.
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Abbie Samantha Affolder, 37, rural Portland, pleaded guilty to burglary, a Level 5 felony.
Sentenced to three years in prison, with all but one year suspended. Credited for one day spent in confinement awaiting disposition of her case. Said credit of days are to be considered in assessing good conduct time credit.
Ordered to submit a DNA sample, pay a $200 supplemental public defender fund fee, $185 in court costs as well as probation fees.
As part of a plea agreement, one count of theft, a Class A misdemeanor, was dismissed.
Affolder is one of six people charged in the breaking and entering of a rural Montpelier residence in over a period of several days in August of 2021.
Affolder reportedly noticed a trail camera while she was in the process of stealing a floor jack Aug. 25 with co-defendant Aaron C. Shawver, 44, Ridgeville, who is awaiting trial on multiple charges of burglary and theft.
The camera was owned by the Wells County Sheriff’s Office and had been placed there by a deputy in an attempt to capture digital images of the people committing the string of burglaries.
Upon seeing the camera, Shawver reportedly said he and Affolder became “uneasy” about being on the property and left behind the property they had intended to steal in the weeds of the property.
Affolder then removed the trail camera from where it had been placed and the two took the camera with them as they left the property.
During the course of the investigation into Shawver’s involvement in the burglaries, his Ridgeville home was searched. During the search, a deputy located an SD card that had been removed from the camera.
A scan of the images on the card by the investigating detectives in the case, Ferrell Swindell and Jeremy Heckel of the Wells County Sheriff’s Department, reportedly showed both Shawver and Affolder on the property the evening of Aug. 25.
When the detectives went to Affolder’s rural Portland residence and spoke with her, she denied any knowledge of the burglary and claimed that Shawver had borrowed her truck but did not specify where he was taking it on the evening of Aug. 25.
What deputies did not tell her in the discussion was the camera caught images of her face as well as a distinctive tattoo on one of her wrists as she reached for the camera.
Apparently the two did not realize the camera continued to capture multiple images of both Affolder and Shawver as they drove away from the residence with the camera in their possession.
Marriage Licenses
Richard Angus McIntyre, 32, rural Bluffton, and Regina Mae Machlan, 26, rural Bluffton.
Audrey Nicole Croy, 22, Ossian, and Cody Ray Mieth, 24, Ossian.
Michael Nail Lomont, 83, New Haven, and Bonnie Lou Dennis 79, Markle.
Victor Patrick Kirk Bell, 26, Mariuon, and Melanie May Bidelman, 31, Bluffton.
Jacob Andrew Filchak, Bluffton, and Alicia Kay Gordon, Bluffton.
Colton Wayne Shutt, 22, Fort Wayne, and Elizabeth Sue Osborne, 22, Ossian.
Joshua Martin Rhoton, 25, rural Keystone, and Brittany Michelle Hughes, 26, rural Keystone.
Matthew David LaMarche, 30, Bluffton, and Emily Nicole Steffen, rural Decatur.
Brian Matthew Lindsey, 41, Magna, Utah, and Julie Akiko Smith, 37, Magna, Utah.
