Wells Superior Court
Criminal Cases
Contract to withhold prosecution/pre-trial diversion entered for Nico Lapree Baker, 34, Fort Wayne, charged with knowingly or intentionally operating a motor vehicle while never having received a driver’s license, a Class C misdemeanor; driving while suspended, a Class A infraction; and no or improper taillights and or license plate light, a Class C infraction.
The duration of the contract is 12 months. If Lapree follows the rules of the contract, the charges against him will be dismissed.
Ordered to take all steps necessary with the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles to obtain a valid driver’s license and play costs and fees.
At 4:37 a.m. Feb. 16, a sheriff’s deputy was patrolling west on Lancaster Street at Adams Street when he spotted a black Dodge Charger with no visible taillights. He pulled the vehicle over near the intersection of 100E and 100N.
The driver, identified as Lapree, reportedly did not know how to turn on the lights of the vehicle until a deputy pointed out a knob on the Charger’s dashboard that controlled the vehicle’s headlights.
During conversation with the deputy, Lapree admitted he had never been issued a driver’s license.
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Amanda Day Taylor, 42, Ossian, pleaded guilty to possession of marijuana, a Class B misdemeanor; and operating a vehicle with a Schedule I or II controlled substance or its metabolite in her body, a Class C misdemeanor.
Sentenced to 180 days in the Wells County Jail on the Class B misdemeanor, and 60 days in jail on the Class C misdemeanor. All but four days of each sentence were suspended and those days were credited as time served. Placed on probation for 361 days.
Ordered to undergo substance abuse evaluation, pay a $200 drug interdiction fee, pay all costs associated with her drug test, court costs and probation fees.
Driver’s license suspended for 30 days.
As part of a plea agreement, one count of no or improper taillights and/or license plate light was dismissed.
While monitoring traffic at the intersection of Jefferson Street and Davis Road in Ossian at 6:50 p.m. Feb. 14, a sheriff’s deputy observed a 2014 Dodge turn east onto Davis Road from Jefferson Street. The vehicle did not have a working license plate light. He pulled it over.
The deputy observed in his report that while he was speaking with Taylor he could smell a strong odor of burned marijuana emanating from the interior of the vehicle. Taylor reportedly admitted she had vaped a THC cartridge before leaving work about 50 minutes earlier.
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Ronald Lee Furry, 65, Carmel, was found guilty in a trial by jury of two counts of battery, both Class A misdemeanors.
Sentenced to two concurrent terms of one year in the Wells County Jail. All but 60 days of the sentence was suspended and Furry was granted credited for four days spent in confinement awaiting disposition of his case. Ordered to serve 305 days of probation.
Ordered to have no contact with his victims and pay court costs and probation fees.
Bluffton police responded to an Arrowhead Trail residence Dec. 12, 2022, on a report that Furry had battered a man and the man’s wife. When officers arrived, the man and wife were reportedly attempting to restrain Furry. He was taken into custody. Reportedly at the time of his arrest, Furry’s alcohol concentration equivalency was .246 percent, or more than three times Indiana’s legal limit for intoxication of .08 percent.
Infractions
Ow Wi Ka Ra Ni, 21, Fort Wayne; driving while suspended, Main Street at Commerce Drive.
Civil Cases
Marriage of Karen Almeida Kemodle and Dennis James Almeida dissolved.
Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles ordered to issue a title for a 2015 Polaris 850 Sportsman All-Terrain vehicle to Matthew Jon Liby, rural Bluffton.
Writ of possession granted to Premier Flats apartments against tenant Edwin Wheeler.
Judgment and writ of possession granted to BCG Capital, Bluffton, against Apollo Coon, Bluffton.
Complaints for possession and for non-payment of rent filed by Premier Flats, Bluffton, against tenants: Summer Tierney; Joshua Suarez and Corey Lechleidner; Heather Salmon; and Dillon Hurlbut. Amounts of rent owed to be determined.
Complaint for payment of $1,275.94 filed by LVNV Funding, Greenville, S.C., against William J. Zirkelbach, Bluffton.
Complaint for payment of $1,199.73 filed by the Law Office of Tracey Rosswurm LLC, Fort Wayne, against Troy Snider, rural Ossian.
Complaints for payment filed by AAA Acceptance Corp., Fort Wayne, against Kristy Rudd, rural Markle, $1,169.53; Taylor Clouse, rural Bluffton, $3,122.83; Rhonda Wiles, Marion, $4,623.83; Hunter Shatto, Montpelier, $2,376.83; Jacob Patterson, Fort Wayne, $7,461.85; Jerrick Umminger, Hartford City, $1,613.83; Jessica and Daniel Bratcher, Indianapolis, $817.83; Jaime Cooper, Fort Wayne, $3,232.83; Nicholas Carpenter, Fort Wayne, $5,335.83.
Complaint for payment filed by Don Myers Plumbing & Heating, rural Berne, against: Heather Hale, Bluffton, $6,117.10; Kyle Burch, rural Keystone, $80.
Complaint for possession and for non-payment of rent filed by Skyline Village Apartments, Markle, against tenant Tony Nunley.
Complaints for payment filed by Snow & Sauerteig, Fort Wayne, against: Emileigh Huntley, Bluffton, $1,287.78; Brennen A. Smallman, Bluffton, $1,180.82; Christopher Kleber, Ossian, $6,534.34; Stacy M. Stookey, rural Keystone, $1,085.66.
Complaint for payment filed by Midland Credit Management Inc., Grand Rapids, Mich., against Stephanie Hershberger, rural Ossian, $1,767.84.
Wells Circuit Court
Civil Cases
Complaint for payment of $12,765.74 filed by Mariner Finance LLC, Fort Wayne, against Christopher Prater and Velma Prater, Bluffton.
Marriage Licenses
Bailey Jo Highlen, 25, Ossian, and Grant Nicholas Anders, 25, Ossian.
Nicole Louise McGill, 37, rural Bluffton, and Cullen Donald Boatwright, 37, rural Bluffton.
Seth Riley Ayres, 32, Bluffton, and Suzette Sheri Hamilton, 30, Bluffton.
