INCIDENTS
City:
Friday, 6:22 p.m., law enforcement received a driving complaint for a westbound vehicle on Ind. 116 coming into Bluffton swerving and driving slowly. A sheriff’s deputy located a vehicle matching the description at Ind. 116 and Wayne Street and pulled it over on Wiley Avenue at Liberty Street after observing that it did not have an operable license plate light. The deputy spoke with the driver, identified as Raigan Ilene Harkinson, 22, rural Montpelier, and discovered that her driver’s license was suspended with an indefinite reinstatement date. Harkinson was charged with driving while suspended with a prior conviction for the same offense, a Class A misdemeanor. She was released on her own recognizance.
Friday, 10:23 p.m., Pine Grove apartments. Sheriff’s deputies attempted to serve two separate warrants for arrest on Timothy Michael Larson, 22, of 62 Pine Grove. The warrants were for operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, a Class A misdemeanor, and invasion of privacy, a Level 6 felony. Reportedly Cassandra Dawn Kidwell, 25, of 62 Pine Grove, answered the door and at first told deputies that Larson was not in the apartment — even though the deputies reportedly could hear a man inside the apartment shouting “No” several times before Kidwell answered the doorbell. After she was told that she could be arrested for assisting a criminal, she reportedly admitted the deputies to the apartment. A search of the apartment did not turn up anyone but one of the deputies observed, as he walked down a hallway in the apartment, a return air grate that was not latched all the way. He removed the grate and reportedly found Larson, naked, hiding in the return air duct. The deputies drew their conducted electrical weapons and ordered Larson out of the duct work. He reportedly exited without further incident and was given a pair of pants to wear to jail. Bond was set at $26,500. The deputies observed in their reports that it would have been impossible for Larson to have placed the grate back in place without Kidwell’s help, so Kidwell was also charged with assisting a criminal, a Level 6 felony and her bond was set at $5,000.
Saturday, 10:43 p.m., 1700 block of North Main Street. Complaint of a possible intoxicated driver in a Toyota Scion northbound on Main Street. A sheriff’s deputy located the Scion parked in the Citgo parking lot and waited for it to leave. It reportedly exited the convenience store’s parking lot and drove south on Main Street at 23 mph-40 zone. Where Main Street splits into multiple lanes, the car reportedly straddled the line dividing the two southbound lanes. The deputy pulled the Scion over and it stopped in the left southbound travel lane. The deputy motioned for the driver to turn onto Dustman Road and then the Scion reportedly stopped in the middle of the travel lane before pulling into a nearby parking lot. The sheriff’s deputy observed in his report that the driver, identified as Walter Uriel Matamoros Mairena, 27, Bluffton, admitted to having drank six Corona beers, smelled of alcohol, appeared intoxicated and blew a .137 percent alcohol concentration equivalency on a Breathalyzer test, which is well above Indiana’s legal limit for intoxication of .08 percent. He was charged with operating a motor vehicle while never having been issued a driver’s license, a Class C misdemeanor; operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, a Class C misdemeanor; operating a motor vehicle with an alcohol concentration equivalency of .08 percent or more, a Class C misdemeanor; unsafe movement from lane to lane, a Class C infraction; and impeding the reasonable movement of traffic, a Class C infraction. Bond was set at $1,000.
Monday, 2:04 p.m., Quilts and Gifts, 2020 N. Main St. Bluffton Fire Department first responders, Wells County EMS and officers responded to a report of a 70-year-old female in cold sweats, back pain and general weakness.
Monday, 5:41 p.m., 120 N. Johnson St. female reported being battered.
Monday, 6:32 p.m., residence in the 500 block of West Arnold Street. Caller reported vandalism.
Tuesday, 9:36 a.m., Taco Bell, 628 N. Main St. Hold up alarm. Officers responded. Alarm tripped by construction workers.
Tuesday, 10:45 a.m., Bluffton Regional Medical center, 303 S. Main St. Officers requested to remove an unwanted man from the facility. The man was transported to a residence in the 900 block of South Main Street.
Tuesday 11:51 a.m., Wayne Street at Spring Street. Bluffton police, Bluffton Fire Department first responders and Wells County EMS dispatched on a report of a man in a vehicle having difficulty breathing.
Tuesday, 12:33 p.m., Main Street at Dustman Road. Tarp blowing into the southbound lanes of Main Street. Officer responded and removed the tarp.
County:
Saturday, 1:14 a.m., Ind. 124 at 500W. Dead deer in the road creating a traffic hazard. Sheriff’s deputy dispatched and removed the deer.
Saturday, 3:33 p.m., residence on 900N northeast of Markle. Woman called 911 apparently because she did not want her grandchildren to allow their guinea pigs to “pee” on her new carpeting.
Sunday, 12:40 a.m., Ind. 1 at 300N. Sheriff’s deputy pulled over a 2007 GMC Sierra pickup truck for not having a working driver’s side headlight. While speaking with the driver and the passenger, the deputy decided to perform a free-air sniff with his K-9 partner around the pickup truck. The dog reportedly alerted for the presence of illegal substances in the truck. The deputy — with the assistance of Bluffton police officers — searched the pickup truck and found nothing illegal in the cab, however in the toolbox in the bed of the truck, they reportedly located a small safe. After some discussion with the passenger, identified as Marissa Annmarie Keller, 25, Kendallville, about the contents of the safe, she told the deputy the combination and he opened it. Allegedly inside the safe he found a pouch of green leafy plant material with the odor and appearance of marijuana, an e-liquid vaporizer with a THC cartridge inside, rolling papers, five lighters, a marijuana grinder and brass screens used to filter marijuana. Keller was charged with possession of marijuana, a Class B misdemeanor, and possession of drug paraphernalia, a Class C misdemeanor. She was released on her own recognizance.
Monday, 7:16 p.m., Prairie Grove Cemetery, 600E north of 700N. Report of suspicious activity after dark in the cemetery. Sheriff’s deputy responded and located a 16-year-old boy visiting his mother’s grave.
Monday, 10:10 p.m., Ind. 1 at 500N. Sheriff’s deputy pulled over a 2016 Jeep Patriot for having a non-functioning license plate light. While speaking with the driver, identified as Jacob Alan Wilfong, 40, Bluffton, the deputy observed that the interior of the Patriot smelled of marijuana. Wilfong reportedly admitted to the deputy that he had smoked marijuana before leaving work. He allegedly became agitated and offered the deputy some marijuana from a small plastic container that Wilfong reportedly removed from a backpack inside the vehicle. Wilfong reportedly failed field sobriety tests and was charged with possession of marijuana, a Class B misdemeanor; operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, a Class C misdemeanor; operating a motor vehicle with a controlled substance or its metabolite in his body, a Class C misdemeanor; and improper license plate light, a Class C infraction. Bond was set at $1,500. He posted bond.
Tuesday, 12:06 a.m., residence on 300N west of 500E. Caller reported there was a vehicle parked at the end of his driveway without its lights on. Sheriff’s deputy responded, but whoever it was had left.
ACCIDENTS
County:
Friday, 6:49 p.m., 700E at Market Street in Domestic. Jose A. Chavez Martinez, 40, Moses Lake, Wash., was driving a 2001 Ford F-150 north on 700E when he tried to stop for the intersection but the weight of the trailer he was pulling pushed the pickup truck into the intersection where it collided with a 2011 Honda Odyssey van driven by Francis R. Troyer, 37, rural Geneva. The impact caused the van to spin 180 degrees and come to a rest backwards against a tree in the front yard of the Scott and Elaine Johnson residence, 7020E-900S. While two passengers in Troyer’s vehicle suffered minor injuries, they declined medical assistance. Damage exceeded $10,000.
FIRE RUNS
Monday, 2:37 p.m., 300W at 950S. Passerby reported seeing smoke from a barn. Fire departments from Montpelier, Chester Township, and Nottingham Township dispatched. Turned out to be a controlled burn.
Monday, 6:43 p.m., 333 Oak Forest Drive residence of Darrin and Sarah Miser. Heat and smoke alarm. Bluffton Fire Department dispatched. No fire. Burning food in the oven triggered the alarm.
ARRESTS
Nathanial Eric Parrott, 31, Bluffton; possession of marijuana, a Class B misdemeanor. Bond set at $1,000.
Jordan Michael Thompson, 22, Fort Wayne; possession of marijuana, a Class B misdemeanor, and possession of drug paraphernalia, a Class C misdemeanor. No bond set.
Shawn Michael Collis, 29, Bluffton; theft, a Class A misdemeanor. Bond set at $1,500.
Kevin Richard Holdman, 45, Fort Wayne; operating a motor vehicle while never having obtained a driver’s license and operating a motor vehicle without insurance with a prior conviction for the same offense, both Class C misdemeanors. Released on his own recognizance.
Helen Andrea Gonzalez, 21, Fort Wayne; possession of marijuana, a Class B misdemeanor, and operating a motor vehicle while never having obtained a driver’s license, a Class misdemeanor. Released on her own recognizance.
