Wells Superior Court
Criminal Cases
Jade Ryan Studabaker, 28, rural Liberty Center, pleaded guilty to operating a vehicle while intoxicated endangering a person, a Class A misdemeanor.
Ordered to serve 200 days in the Wells County Jail, pay court costs of $185.50, assessed a $200 drug interdiction fee and the terms of the sentence are to be served consecutively to any term to be meted in Blackford Superior Court for violating probation from an Oct. 27, 2020, conviction for possession of methamphetamine, a Level 6 felony.
Driver’s license suspended for 30 days.
As part of a plea agreement, charges of operating a vehicle with an alcohol concentration equivalency of greater than .08 percent but less than .15 percent, a Class C misdemeanor; and Class C infraction charges of open alcoholic beverage container during operation of a motor vehicle, no headlights between dusk and dawn and no valid driver’s license in his possession, were all dismissed.
While on patrol at 1:09 a.m. April 6, a sheriff’s deputy spotted a 2013 Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck make a right turn from Johnson Street onto Washington Street and noticed that the truck did not have its lights on. The deputy pulled it over at Oak and Cherry streets
In his report to the court, the deputy observed that the driver, identified as Studebaker appeared to be intoxicated, smelled of alcohol, failed field sobriety tests and blew a .117 percent alcohol concentration equivalency on a Breathalyzer test.
———
Probation transferred from Grant County to Wells County for Taylor N. Aust, 28, Bluffton, who is on probation until June 14, 2023, following his conviction in Grant County for unlawful possession of a hypodermic syringe, a Level 6 felony.
Ordered to undergo substance abuse counseling, to remain confined to his residence between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. or as determined by his probation officer, and to pay probation fees.
———
Austin Rigdon, 22, Kendallville, pleaded guilty to operating motor vehicle while intoxicated endangering a person with a prior conviction for the same offense, a Level 6 felony.
Sentenced to 740 days in prison, with all but 10 days suspended, and placed on probation for 730 days.
Credited for four days spent in confinement awaiting disposition of his case.
Ordered to pay court costs and probation fees.
As part of a plea agreement, one Class C infraction count of address or name change violation, a Class C infraction, was dismissed.
Rigdon was eastbound in the middle of an S-curve on 600W as he approached 1100N Oct. 13, 2021. He failed to negotiate the second curve in the S-curve and the Buick Rendezvous he was driving traveled down a steep embankment and crashed into a tree.
Rigdon was not injured, but the sheriff’s deputy investigating the crash noted in his report to the court that Rigdon appeared intoxicated, failed field sobriety tests and blew a .145 percent alcohol concentration equivalency on a Breathalyzer test.
Although Rigdon would initially deny having anything to drink, he eventually admitted to the investigating deputy he had drank six Twisted Teas before leaving his residence to go to work.
Infractions
Patience Awkright, 24, Bluffton; expired license plates and driving while suspended, Main Street at Dustman Road.
Civil Cases
Complaint for damages totaling $1,626.22 filed by Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance, as subrogee of Tammy Spaulding, against James Guenin, Bluffton.
Petition for dissolution filed in the marriage of Kevin J. Moser, Bluffton, and Cassie N. Moser, rural Huntington.
Petition for specialized driving privileges filed by Carlos E. Slater, 43, Bluffton.
Petition for dissolution filed in the marriage of Mary M. Thompson, Bluffton, and William J. Thompson, rural Bluffton.
Petition for dissolution filed in the marriage of Ashley C. Heckman, Bluffton, and Daniel D. Heckman, rural Bluffton.
Wells Circuit Court
Criminal Cases
David G. Lawrence, 57, Bluffton, pleaded guilty to domestic battery with a previous conviction for the same offense, a Level 5 felony.
Sentenced to three years in prison.
Credited for 18 days spent in confinement awaiting disposition of his case.
Ordered to pay a $50 domestic violence prevention and treatment fee and $185 in court costs. Lost all rights to possess a firearm.
On Feb. 8, 2021, a Bluffton woman came to the Bluffton Police Department to report that she had been battered by Lawrence at the residence they shared following an argument over a the woman having checked through Lawrence’s cell phone.
Marriage Licenses
Nikki Lynne Butler, 28, Fort Wayne, and James Andrew Weber, 28, Markle
Nathan Robert Lechleidner, 21, Bluffton, and Elizabeth Marie Traster, 20, Bluffton.
Jennifer Lynn Lorenzen, 61, Bluffton, and James Linn Sturgeon, 61, rural Bluffton.
Aaron Raven Zimmerman, 28, Coldwater, Ohio, and Crystal Marie Bailey, 26, Bluffton.
Ethan Edward Dagett, 29, Bluffton, and Brianna Jolene Monroe, 25, rural Huntington.
Files Report
A report of receipts and expenditures of a political committee has been filed with the Wells County Clerk’s office by Restoring America One Community at a Time, Peter Christopher Koiner, Bluffton, Republican for Bluffton-Harrison Metropolitan School District Board of Trustees.
For the period beginning Jan. 1 and ending April 8, the committee showed no cash on hand at the beginning of the reporting period, Itemized contributions of $150, unitemized contributions of $25, no expenditures and ended the reporting period with $175. The committee owed no debt.
The itemized contributions were $50 from Mike and Gwen Grimm, rural Keystone, and $100 from Beth and Juan Cassilas, Greenville, S.C.
