Wells Superior Court
Criminal Cases
One-day jury trial set for May 23 for Zackery T. Felger, 26, rural Angola, charged with operating a vehicle with an alcohol concentration equivalency of .08 percent or more, a Level 6 felony; operating a vehicle while intoxicated with a prior conviction for the same offense, a Level 6 felony; possession of marijuana, a Class B misdemeanor; possession of drug paraphernalia, a Class C misdemeanor; and open alcoholic beverage container during operation of a motor vehicle, a Class C infraction.
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Patrick Lee Bortner, 52, Columbia City, pleaded guilty to attempted residential entry, a Level 6 felony.
Sentenced to 545 days in prison, with all but four days suspended — credited as time served, and placed on probation for 541 days.
Ordered to serve 180 days of home detention, submit a DNA sample, have no contact with his victims, pay court costs and probation fees.
As part of a plea agreement, one count of criminal trespass, a Class A misdemeanor, was dismissed.
At 7:32 a.m. on Sept. 5, Bluffton police responded to a Walnut Street residence on a report that a strange man — later identified as Bortner — was attempting to enter the residence through a back door. One of the homeowners was trying to hold the back door closed and another told Bortner he needed to leave.
Bortner allegedly told the homeowner he wanted some coffee.
When officers arrived, Bortner was reportedly seated in a chair on the back porch of the residence. He blew a .187 percent alcohol concentration equivalency on a Breathalyzer test.
It was later discovered that Bortner’s vehicle had been abandoned by the pond at the Bluffton Woods mobile home park.
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Andre David Hughes, 22, Berne, pleaded guilty to possession of marijuana with a prior conviction for the same offense, a Class A misdemeanor.
Sentenced to a year in the Wells County Jail, with all but 14 days suspended, and placed on probation for 351 days.
Credited for two days spent in confinement awaiting disposition of his case.
Ordered to pay court costs and probation fees.
As part of a plea agreement, one count of exceeding urban speed limit, a Class C infraction, was dismissed.
On Aug. 23, a sheriff’s deputy clocked a 2001 Mercury Sable Hughes was driving at 44-30 zone on South Main Street and pulled it over near Spring Street.
In speaking with Hughes, the deputy reported that he appeared to be overly nervous and at the same time lethargic. The deputy then asked him if there was anything illegal in the car. Hughes reportedly denied there was. He denied the deputy’s request to search the vehicle.
So the deputy retrieved his K-9 partner and had the dog sniff around the outside of the vehicle. The dog alerted. The deputy asked Hughes again if there was anything illegal in the car and he replied that there was a small amount of marijuana in the glove box of the vehicle.
With probable cause to search the vehicle, the deputy found a small bag of a green leafy plant material with the odor and appearance of marijuana.
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Preliminary plea of not guilty entered for Cassandra Dawn Kidwell, 25, Bluffton, charged with assisting a criminal, a Level 6 felony. Released on her own recognizance. Patrick Miller appointed as public defender.
Preliminary plea of not guilty entered for Timothy Michael Larson, 22, Bluffton, charged with invasion of privacy with a prior conviction for the same offense, a Level 6 felony; operating a vehicle while intoxicated endangering a person, a Class A misdemeanor; and unsafe movement from lane to lane, a Class C infraction. Larry Mock appointed public defender.
At 2:22 p.m. Nov. 5, 2022, Larson was involved in a moped crash in which the moped struck the curb on North Main Street in front of O’Reilly’s Auto Parts, causing the moped to launch into a parked car in the parking lot of the auto parts store. Larson was ejected into the grassy strip between Main Street and the parking lot.
Wells County EMS, Bluffton Fire Department first responders and Wells County EMS were dispatched to the scene and Larson ended up being transported by ambulance to Lutheran Hospital in Fort Wayne for treatment of his injuries.
A witness told the investigating police officer that Larson had been weaving in his lane of travel before the accident occurred. A portable Breathalyzer test conducted in the back of the ambulance reportedly showed Larson’s blood alcohol concentration to be .137 percent, well in excess of Indiana’s legal limit for intoxication of .08 percent.
On Jan. 13, sheriff’s deputies went to Larson’s apartment at Pine Grove Apartments to serve the warrant for his arrest on the intoxicated driving charge. Kidwell was the person who answered the door. She reportedly opened the door to the apartment just wide enough for her to squeeze out and tried to close the door after her, but the deputy stuck his foot in the door preventing it from closing.
The deputy observed in his report that there was an active no contact order in place against Larson for Kidwell.
One of the deputies observed in his report to the court that he could hear a male talking in the apartment prior to Kidwell opening the door. Kidwell reportedly denied Larson was present in the apartment.
Kidwell allegedly was evasive in her answers to the deputies regarding Larson’s potential presence in the apartment. A deputy explained to her that if Larson was inside the apartment, and she was denying the deputies entrance to the apartment, she could be charged with assisting a criminal. The deputy then told her if Larson was inside, she needed to tell him to come out. She reportedly told the deputy OK and again tried to shut the door of the apartment behind her after she went back inside. The deputy again stopped the door from shutting with his foot.
Kidwell reportedly maintained that Larson was not in the apartment and eventually permitted the deputies to search the apartment — which they did, but did not find Larson.
However, one of the deputies observed that a return air grate on the apartment’s ventilation system did not appear to be on correctly with one of its latches not secured properly. The deputy wrote in his report that in his observation he thought to himself that the duct could be just large enough to hide a person. The deputy unlatched the grate and checked inside.
There, reportedly, was Larson hiding, naked, in the ductwork.
The deputies drew their conducted electrical weapons and ordered Larson out. He surrendered without further incident and was given a pair of pants to wear to jail.
Kidwell was also placed under arrest, because the deputy observed in his report, that there was no way that Larson could have secured the exterior latches to the duct from inside it.
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Jacob A. Wilfong, 40, Bluffton pleaded guilty to operating a vehicle with a Schedule I or II controlled substance or its metabolite in his body, a Class C misdemeanor.
Sentenced to 60 days in the Wells County Jail, with all but four days suspended — credited as time served, and placed on probation for 361 days.
Ordered to pay for the costs of his blood test, a $200 drug interdiction fee, court costs and probation fees.
Driver’s license suspended for 30 days.
As part of a plea agreement, charges of possession of marijuana, a Class B misdemeanor; operating a vehicle while intoxicated, a Class C misdemeanor; and improper or no taillight and/or license plate light, a Class C infraction, were all dismissed.
At 10:10 p.m. Jan. 16, a sheriff’s deputy observed a 2016 Jeep Patriot southbound on Ind. 1 near U.S. 224 with no license plate light and pulled it over.
Upon speaking with the driver, Wilfong, the deputy observed in his report that the interior of the vehicle smelled of marijuana. When the deputy asked Wilfong about the odor, he reportedly admitted he had smoked marijuana about an hour earlier.
He reportedly grew agitated with the deputy’s questions and asked him if he wanted some marijuana. Wilfong then reportedly grabbed a backpack and unzipped it. The deputy told Wilfong to wait, but he reportedly continued and grabbed small clear plastic container from the backpack that contained a green leafy substance with the odor and appearance of marijuana.
Wilfong then failed field sobriety tests.
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Preliminary plea of not guilty entered for Marissa Annmarie Keller, 25, Kendallville, charged with possession of marijuana, a Class B misdemeanor, and possession of drug paraphernalia, a Class C misdemeanor.
While monitoring traffic on Ind. 1 near 400N Jan. 16, a sheriff’s deputy spotted a southbound 2007 GMC Sierra pickup truck that did not have a working driver’s side headlight. He turned around and pulled the truck over.
Keller was a passenger in the pickup truck.
While speaking with Keller and the driver, the deputy observed in his report to the court that in plain site on the dashboard of the truck was a marijuana grinder labeled “Chill out!” The deputy then asked both the driver and the passenger if he would have his K-9 partner perform a free air sniff around the exterior of the pickup truck if the dog would alert on anything. Both were reportedly hesitant to answer with Keller finally saying she did not think so.
The dog did alert on the vehicle, giving the deputy probable cause to search the truck. He located nothing in the passenger compartment, but in the tool box in the bed of the pickup truck the deputy found a small safe. Keller reportedly told the deputy she had “stuff for her clothes” in the safe as she was taking her laundry from her house in Kendallville to her brother’s house in Bluffton. She denied knowing the combination of the safe.
The deputy asked Keller if the dog were to perform a sniff around the box if he would alert on anything. Keller reportedly told the deputy the dog would alert and gave the combination of the safe to the deputy.
Inside the safe, the deputy reportedly found a small glass jar containing raw green plant material with the odor and appearance of marijuana, a purple pouch labeled “Kind Smokes White Runz Indica” and stating it was ready to roll pre-ground cannabis, and a metal tray with a lid with a painting on top depicting the famous painter Vincent Van Gogh smoking marijuana. The tray allegedly contained a green leafy plant material with the odor and appearance of marijuana. The box also reportedly contained a vaping pen with a liquid cartridge that allegedly contained THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana.
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Preliminary plea of not guilty entered for Shawn Michael Collis, 29, Bluffton, charged with theft with a prior conviction for theft or conversion, a Level 6 felony. Released on his own recognizance. Cory Spreen appointed public defender.
Collis is charged with stealing his stepfather’s bicycle from a McConnell Drive residence Jan. 14 and riding it to Save-On Liquor on South Main Street to buy cigarettes.
An officer reportedly located the bike — and Spreen — at the liquor store. Spreen allegedly claimed his mother had given him permission to ride the bicycle to Save-On, an assertion she denied.
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Preliminary plea of not guilty entered for Jordan Thompson, 22, Fort Wayne, charged with possession of marijuana, a Class B misdemeanor; possession of drug paraphernalia, a Class C misdemeanor; following another vehicle too closely, a Class C infraction; and driving while suspended, a Class A infraction.
While monitoring traffic on Jefferson Street from Davis Road in Ossian Jan. 13, an Ossian police officer observed a vehicle following a vehicle ahead of it too closely. The officer pulled out behind the vehicle and performed a license plate check. The check returned that the registered owner — Thompson — had a suspended driver’s license.
The officer pulled the vehicle over and, upon speaking to Thompson, observed in his report that the interior of the vehicle smelled of marijuana. The officer informed Thompson of what he was smelling and asked Thompson to hand the marijuana over. Thompson then reportedly reached over to the passenger side floor board and handed the officer a small bag containing a green leafy substance with the odor and appearance of marijuana.
A search of the vehicle reportedly also turned up three glass pipes.
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Preliminary plea of not guilty entered for Raigan I. Harkinson, 22, rural Montpelier, charged with driving while suspended with a prior conviction for the same offense, a Class A misdemeanor.
On Jan. 13, in response to a driving complaint about a vehicle approaching Bluffton from the east on Ind. 116, a sheriff’s deputy pulled his police car in behind a car Harkinson was driving to observe its driving behavior, but did not notice anything to indicate Harkinson was impaired.
However, her vehicle did reportedly have a non-working license plate light and that caused the deputy to pull the vehicle over on Wiley Avenue at Liberty Street.
The deputy discovered that Harkinson had a suspended driver’s license with an indefinite re-eligibility date and a prior conviction in Wells Superior Court Nov. 26, 2018, for driving while suspended.
