Wells Superior Court
Criminal Cases
Preliminary plea of not guilty entered for Tori Carter, 23, Marion, charged with possession of a Schedule I, II, III, or IV controlled substance, a Class A misdemeanor; possession of marijuana, a Class B misdemeanor, and possession of drug paraphernalia, a Class C misdemeanor. Bond continued at $3,000.
Preliminary plea of not guilty entered for Philip A. Chalmers, 52, Marion, charged with possession of marijuana, a Class A misdemeanor, and possession of drug paraphernalia, a Class C misdemeanor.
An Indiana State Police trooper was patrolling Main Street April 27 when he was informed by a Bluffton police officer that a Pontiac Grand Am was heading the trooper’s direction. The car, the officer reported, had a broken windshield and an expired license plate. The trooper pulled the vehicle over in the parking lot of The Budget Inn on North Main Street.
Chalmers was the driver and Carter was the passenger.
The trooper obtained permission from Chalmers to search the vehicle and, with the assistance of a Wells County Deputy Sheriff, they reportedly found a a small blue pill in a cigarette pack. Both Carter and Chalmers reportedly denied ever having seen the pill. The trooper was able to identify the pill as Vyvanse, a Schedule II controlled substance for control of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
Suspecting illegal drug activity by the couple, the trooper questioned Carter if there was anything illegal in the motel room where they were staying at the Budget Inn. Carter allegedly admitted there was both marijuana and drug paraphernalia.
Chalmers reportedly became agitated but granted the trooper permission to search the room. During the course of the search, a metal tray was located in the night stand of the room. on the tray were Zig-zag rolling papers, a black cylinder containing a green leafy substance with the odor and appearance of marijuana, a round container with “dabs” — a slang term for a waxy substance containing THC oil, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, a metal pipe containing a substance with the odor and appearance of burned marijuana and a vape cartridge that reportedly contained THC oil.
———
Preliminary plea of not guilty entered for Joshua A. Roe, 37, Markle, charged with identity deception, a Level 6 felony. Larry Mock appointed public defender.
Roe’s pitbulls allegedly attacked a smaller dog outside of the Skyline Village apartments April 26.
When a sheriff’s deputy investigated the alleged attack, Roe allegedly gave the deputy a false identity — calling himself “Douglas Philips.” The deputy could decided to perform a warrant check on that name, with a date of birth supplied by “Philips,” and could not find anyone matching that name and date of birth.
Suspecting that the man claiming to be Philips was lying about his identity, the deputy returned to the apartment that Philips had gone into, however Philips had locked the door behind him and was refusing to answer the door.
Eventually, Philips allegedly admitted to the officer that he was, in reality, Roe, and that he had given a false identification in order to avoid being arrested on a warrant for violating probation from an Adams County criminal case and a retake warrant from the Indiana Department of Correction.
