INCIDENTS
City:
Friday, 2 p.m., 1700 block of North Main Street. Caller reported that a woman and two men in a red Toyota with tinted windows threw a cup of coffee and a lit cigarette into his vehicle and then fled northbound. Information taken for a report.
Friday, 2:56 p.m., Pretzels Inc., 123 Harvest Rd. Red and white pill with no markings found inside the building at the turnstile.
Friday, 3:12 p.m., report of a woman walking in traffic on Lancaster Street creating a traffic hazard. The woman reportedly had walked away from the Praxis substance abuse treatment facility at 1519 W. Lancaster St. Officer located the woman at the Handi Spot convenience store and placed Christy Norton, Muncie, under arrest on an active warrant out of Anderson City Court for theft, a Class A misdemeanor.
Friday, 5:25 p.m., Walmart Supercenter, 2100 N. Main St. Officers requested to detain a woman allegedly caught stealing from the store. Andrea Elizabeth-Linn Purvis, 21, Bluffton, was charged with theft, a Class A misdemeanor. She was released on her own recognizance.
Friday, 5:50 p.m., residence in the 1000 block of West Lancaster St. Caller discovered a crawl space window on her residence had been broken.
Friday, 7:52 p.m., Wiley Avenue at Mulberry Street. Caller reported seeing a man pacing back and forth on Mulberry Street and thought it to be suspicious. Officer responded and located the man and warned him for trespassing at a residence in the 400 block of East Ohio Street.
Friday, 9:26 p.m., 400 block of West Wabash Street. Dog creating a traffic hazard. Officer responded. Owners were able to corral the dog.
Saturday, 12:38 a.m. residence in the 500 block of South Oak Street. Report of two suspicious men walking in the caller’s yard. The men then got into a vehicle that was parked in the parking lot for Life Community Church and left the area.
Saturday, 8:23 p.m., Lowe’s Home Improvement, 2105 N. Main St. Report that a man had cut himself with a box cutter. Wells County EMS dispatched.
Sunday, 2:48 p.m., Main Street at Oak Forest Drive. Bluffton police officer pulled over a vehicle and arrested the driver, Randall Caldwell, 56, Bluffton, on charges of operating a motor vehicle while never having been issued a driver’s license, a Class C misdemeanor, and driving while suspended with a prior conviction for the same offense, a Class A misdemeanor. He was released on his own recognizance.
Monday, 8:52 a.m., Kroger’s grocery store, 1555 S. Harrison Plaza. Employee located prescription pills inside the store the previous evening. Bluffton police officer collected and disposed of the pills.
County:
Friday, 8:11 p.m., residence on 100E north of 1100N. Caller reported two suspicious men in a pickup truck parked in the driveway. Sheriff’s deputy responded. Discovered the two men were coyote hunters with permission from the owner of the property to the be on the property.
Friday, 8:46 p.m., residence on 1150S east of 400E. Caller reported seeing suspicious lights in a nearby woods. Sheriff’s deputy responded. The lights were on the neighbor’s barn.
Friday, 10:07 p.m., Silo Farms mobile home park, 11080N-Ind. 1. Caller reported discovering fraudulent charges on her debit card.
Saturday, 5:19 a.m., Ind. 124 west of 700E. Report of an Amish buggy sitting by the side of the road with no lights on it. Sheriff’s deputies responded and located the buggy parked alongside the road. They spoke with the driver of the buggy, John E. D. Wengerd, 24, rural Bryant, who reportedly smelled of alcohol, appeared intoxicated, admitted having drank both beer and liquor, failed field sobriety tests and blew a .182 percent alcohol concentration equivalency on a Breathalyzer test, which is more than twice Indiana’s legal limit for intoxication of .08 percent. Wengerd was charged with operating a vehicle with an alcohol concentration equivalency of .15 percent or more and operating a vehicle while intoxicated endangering a person, both Class A misdemeanors. Bond set at $1,500.
Saturday, 7:27 a.m., Adams Street at Cherry Street. Sheriff’s deputy assisted a motorist whose vehicle was out of gas.
Saturday, 7:44 a.m., 1000S at 300W. Report of a loose donkey in the roadway. Sheriff’s deputy tracked the donkey to Keystone and notified its owner to come get it.
Saturday, 8:25 p.m., residence on 1100S west of 600W in Jackson Township. Warrant for arrest served at the residence for Raigan Ilene Harkinson, 22, for violating the conditions of her bail from original charges of criminal trespass, a Class A misdemeanor; two counts of theft, both Class A misdemeanors, and forgery, a Level 6 felony.
Saturday, 10:02 p.m., Rose Road near Murray. Pickup truck spinning in circles “doing doughnuts” on the gravel road then left the area.
Sunday, 10:43 a.m., 900S at 200W. Vehicle slid off the road.
Sunday, 10:23 p.m., Ind. 1 at U.S. 224. Deputy assisted a motorist whose vehicle had a flat tire.
Sunday, 11:34 p.m., 700S at 400W. Vehicle slid off the road.
Monday, 1:49 a.m., Ind. 3 south of Ind. 218. While transporting a prisoner, a sheriff’s deputy came across a vehicle that hit a deer. The deputy informed the driver of the vehicle that hit the deer that he needed to transport a prisoner to the Wells County Jail and would return. When he came back, the vehicle had been removed from the ditch where it had been and the driver was gone.
Monday, 7:33 a.m., 300W at Oak Road. School bus driver spotted a vehicle in the ditch and could not advise if anyone was trapped or injured. Wells County Sheriff’s deputies, Markle Fire Rescue and Wells County EMS dispatched. The vehicle had just slid off the road and whoever had been driving it had left.
Monday, 7:38 a.m., Ind. 1 at 200S. Caller reported a vehicle had slid off the road but could not verify if anyone was trapped or injured. Sheriff’s deputies, Wells County EMS and Bluffton Fire Rescue dispatched to the scene. The vehicle was already out of the ditch and gone before they arrived.
Monday, 7:52 a.m., 200S at 300W. Vehicle slid off the road.
Monday, 7:54 a.m., 300W at 100N. Vehicle slid off the road into a field.
Monday, 8:07 a.m., 900S at Meridian Road. Chevrolet Impala slid off the road up against an electric pole. Caller could not verify if anyone was trapped or injured. Sheriff’s deputies, Wells County EMS, Nottingham Fire Department first responders and Bluffton Fire Rescue dispatched. The driver was uninjured and was picked up by his parents who did not request an accident report be done. There was no damage to the pole.
Monday, 8:09 a.m., residence on 400N east of 200E. Trash can stolen.
Monday, 10:28 a.m., woman came to the sheriff’s department and reported a GMC Envoy she left at a residence she owns in Poneto had been stolen overnight. Prior to the Envoy being reported stolen it was located in a ditch on 400W at 700S where it had apparently slid off the road. The woman told the sheriff’s deputy she reported theft to that she did not want to file a report as she intended to have the vehicle scrapped.
Ossian:
Friday, 11:44 p.m., Jefferson Street south of Industrial Parkway. Sheriff’s deputy clocked a northbound Cadillac Escalade at 79 mph-45 zone and pulled the vehicle over in the parking lot of the BP station. Jose Luis Niño Jr., 22, Fort Wayne, was cited into Wells Superior Court for driving while suspended, a Class A infraction, and speeding, a Class C infraction. The sheriff’s deputy noted in his report that the two passengers in the vehicle with Niño also had suspended driver’s licenses.
Saturday, 11:26 a.m., residence in the 300 block of West LaFever. Officers, Ossian Fire Department first responders and Wells County EMS responded to the residence on a report of an unresponsive male. Wells County coroner contacted.
ACCIDENTS
City:
Monday, 1:20 p.m., Market Street at Bennett Street. Janae M. McConnehey, 42, Bluffton, was driving a 2012 Chevrolet Equinox north on Bennett Street. She stopped but a parked vehicle on the street blocked her view of a westbound 2018 Chevrolet Equinox on Market Street driven by Mary J. Beer, 66, rural Bluffton. McConnehey proceeded into the intersection and the Equinoxes collided causing more than $2,500 damage.
County:
Saturday, 5:35 a.m., 300S near 100W. Gavin M. Newman, 23, Liberty Center, hit a deer with his 2010 Chevrolet Malibu. Damage to the car exceeded $10,000.
Sunday, 9:56 a.m., 900S just west of 400W. Kailey P. Kenyon, 19, Warren, was driving a 2008 Toyota Rav4 west on 900S when the sport utility vehicle slid out of control on the snow-covered roadway, slid off the road and slammed into a tree in the front yard of Kevin Oliver, 4090W-900S. The momentum of the vehicle caused to continue westward where it wiped out a mailbox, then slid across the driveway before finally rotating 90 degrees and coming to a rest half on and half off the road perpendicular to the road facing north. Kenyon was not injiured. Damage exceeded $5,000.
Sunday, 10:57 a.m., Ind. 218 west of 400W. Julie M. Thompson, 52, rural Poneto, was driving a 2014 Chevrolet Equinox east on Ind. 218 when the sport utility vehicle slid out of control on the snow-covered roadway, slid off the right side of the road and crashed into an Indiana Michigan Power electric pole, breaking the pole in half. Thompson was not injured. Damage exceeded $5,000.
Monday, 1:20 a.m., Ind. 1 near 700N. Jovohn J. Kelsaw, 43, Fort Wayne, was driving a 2018 Nissan Rogue north on Ind. 1 when the vehicle slid out of control just south of 700N, crossed the center line sideways and slid off the west side of the road where it came to a rest facing north in the ditch. Damage exceeded $5,000.
Monday, 6:31 a.m., 300N west of 450E. Ashlyn Mechling, 24, rural Bluffton, was driving a 2007 Chevrolet Impala east on 300N when the car slid out of control on the icy roadway, slid off the road and struck and Indiana Michigan Power electric pole with the driver’s side of the Impala. Damage exceeded $2,500. Mechling suffered a shoulder injury in the crash and Wells County EMS was dispatched to the scene, however she declined transport by ambulance to the hospital.
Monday, 9:04 a.m., Hoosier Highway near Ash Road. Lindsey Eads, 39, Bluffton, was driving a 2017 Toyota Prius west on Hoosier Highway when the car slid out of control on the icy roadway, slid off the right side of the road, spun counterclockwise 90 degrees and came to a rest in the ditch. Wells County EMS was requested to make the scene to check on Eads but she was not injured. Damage exceeded $2,500.
