Wells Superior Court
Criminal Cases
Preliminary plea of not guilty entered for Lakia Lara Via, 22, Fort Wayne., charged with driving while suspended with a prior conviction for the same offense, a Class A misdemeanor, and no or improper headlights, a Class C infraction. Larry Mock appointed public defender.
On Jan. 7, a sheriff’s deputy participated with a Bluffton Police officer in a traffic stop of a vehicle Via was driving after the Bluffton officer noticed a headlight out on the vehicle. She had a prior conviction in Allen County Superior Court Oct. 19, 2020, for driving while suspended.
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Preliminary plea of not guilty entered for Dillon Scott Zent, 28, rural Keystone, charged with operating a vehicle with an alcohol concentration equivalency of .15 percent or more with a prior conviction for the same offense and operating a vehicle while intoxicated endangering a person with a prior conviction for the same offense, both Level 6 felonies. Bond continued at $5,000. Larry Mock appointed public defender.
Zent was arrested after rolling his pickup truck in the area of 1050S and 500E in Nottingham Township Jan. 7.
The deputy investigating the accident noted in his report that Zent appeared intoxicated, failed field sobriety tests and blew a .253 percent alcohol concentration equivalency on a Breathalyzer test, which is more than three times Indiana’s legal limit for intoxication of .08 percent. A test performed at the jail showed an ACE of .188 percent.
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Preliminary plea of not guilty entered for Andrew James Harding, 23, Fort Wayne, charged with driving while suspended with a prior conviction, a Class A misdemeanor, and speeding, a Class C infraction. Law office of Sprunger and Sprunger appointed pauper counsel.
A Bluffton police officer pulled over a 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee Harding was driving after clocking it at 43 mph-30 zone on South Main Street Jan. 9.
Harding had a prior conviction in Dekalb Superior Court fro driving while suspended with re-eligibility date of March 30.
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Preliminary plea of not guilty entered for Donald D. Conner, 40, Bluffton, charged with leaving the scene of a property damage accident, a Class B misdemeanor. Bond continued at $1,000.
Conner is charged with driving his 2012 Buick Enclave into the back of another vehicle at Main Street and Spring Street Jan. 8. The driver of the other vehicle reported that Conner exited his Enclave, came up to the driver of the vehicle and asked him if he was OK, then left.
The driver of the vehicle that was hit provided a pretty good description of the vehicle that hit his and officers recognized it as possibly a vehicle that had been involved in an incident investigated by police earlier. The officer went to the address of the registered owner of that vehicle in the 1300 block of West South Street and spotted a Buick Enclave with front-end damage that matched the description given by the driver of the vehicle that was hit.
The officer questioned Conner about the crash. He reportedly admitted he had hit the other vehicle from behind and to leaving the scene of the crash because he was frightened.
The officer noted in his report that Conner smelled of alcohol and blew a .182 percent alcohol concentration equivalency on a Breathalyzer test. However, Conner reportedly told the officer he had drank alcohol after arriving home following the crash.
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Preliminary plea of not guilty entered for Joshua D. Harrison, 34, Bluffton, charged with auto theft and operating a motor vehicle after having been found to be an habitual traffic violator, both Level 6 felonies. Bond continued at $10,000. Larry Mock appointed public defender.
Harrison is charged with stealing his mother’s 2004 Mazda pickup truck from her Bluffton residence Jan. 6. He was arrested at the residence shortly after the report was made and was arrested there.
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Preliminary plea of not guilty entered for Zacharey Patrick Lee, 28, Connersville, charged with unlawful possession of a syringe and resisting law enforcement buy use of a vehicle, both Level 6 felonies; operating a vehicle while intoxicated endangering a person, a Class A misdemeanor; and operating a vehicle with a Schedule I or II controlled substance or its metabolite in his body, a Class C misdemeanor. Bond continued at $11,500. Jeffrey Stineburg appointed public defender.
While patrolling South Main Street Jan. 8, a Wells County sheriff’s deputy spotted a 2002 Lincoln Navigator sport utility vehicle weaving within its lane. The vehicle was also traveling slower than the posted speed limit. The deputy performed a records check on the license plate of the vehicle and discovered that the registered owner had a suspended driver’s license.
The deputy tried pulling the vehicle over on Ind. 1 south of Bluffton. It initially appeared as if it would pull over, continued onward and then finally pulled over. The deputy spoke with the driver, who turned out to not be the registered owner, but was Lee.
Lee reportedly informed the deputy he believed he might have an active warrant for his arrest. Lee then allegedly sped away from the traffic stop. The sheriff’s deputy gave chase and was quickly joined by other deputies and Bluffton police officers after Lee allegedly turned east onto 450S and started driving across a field in an apparent attempt to elude capture.
Obviously unfamiliar with the field, Lee drove the vehicle into the Boyer Ditch, which cuts across the field. The Navigator went down the 10-foot slope of the ditch.
Deputies and officers ordered Lee to exit the vehicle, however he instead reportedly tried to back the vehicle up the bank, but was unsuccessful in doing so.
He reportedly eventually surrendered after he was threatened with the deployment of the Bluffton Police Department’s K-9 officer.
