Wells Superior Court
Criminal Cases
Preliminary plea of not guilty entered for Karri A. Miller, 34, rural Markle, charged with battery resulting in bodily injury, a Class A misdemeanor. Bond continued at $1,500. Larry Mock appointed public defender.
Miller is charged with battering another woman during an argument over money in the parking lot of the Skyline Village apartments in Markle June 4.
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Preliminary plea of not guilty entered for Glenn E. Osborne, 58, rural Ridgeville, charged with possession of methamphetamine, a Level 6 felony; possession of marijuana, a Class A misdemeanor; criminal trespass, a Class A misdemeanor; and possession of drug paraphernalia with a prior conviction for the same offense, a Class A misdemeanor. Bond continued at $9,500. Allison Sprunger appointed pauper counsel.
Osborne and Rachel Thompson reportedly decided to spent the night in their vehicle in the Mossburg Cemetery at 550W and 100S June 3.
A complaining party had contacted the sheriff’s department and reported the two had been in the cemetery the day before as Thompson claimed to have relatives buried there. The vehicle was still there the next day but now it had a tent pitched behind it.
Sheriff’s deputies and the Markle Town Marshal responded. The investigating deputy noticed that the interior of the vehicle smelled like marijuana.
Upon further investigation, law enforcement officers reportedly found evidence of both marijuana and methamphetamine usage in both the vehicle, where Thompson was reported to be staying, and the tent, where Osborne was reportedly staying.
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Preliminary plea of not guilty entered for Isaiah Elias Marshall, 27, Bluffton, charged with operating a vehicle with an alcohol concentration equivalency of .15 percent or more with a prior conviction for the same offense, a Level 6 felony; operating a vehicle while intoxicated endangering a person with a prior conviction for the same or a similar offense, a Level 6 felony; and leaving the scene of a property damage accident, a Class B misdemeanor. Bond continued at $6,000.
At 2:39 a.m. June 3 sheriff’s deputies received a report of a pickup truck parked on the berm of Ind. 124 near the Adams County line with its lights on. The truck was reported to have been in that location for the past couple hours.
When a deputy arrived, he located a black 2014 Ford F-350 parked along the side of the road where the complaining party said it would be, but rather than being parked parallel to the road as a vehicle that simply pulled off the road would likely be, the truck was parked at an angle to the road close to a utility pole.
The pickup was also heavily damaged.
Inside was a man — later identified as Marshall — slouched backwards in the driver’s seat. As deputies tried to get his attention, Marshall allegedly awakened briefly, then slouched back down again.
After repeated attempts, Marshall eventually opened the door. The deputy noted that Marshall smelled of alcohol, failed field sobriety tests and blew a .166 percent alcohol concentration equivalency on a Breathalyzer test. That is more than twice Indiana’s legal limit for intoxication of .08 percent.
The deputy asked Marshall if he could recall hitting anything with the pickup. He could not, although Bluffton police were investigating an accident wherein a dark-colored pickup truck was the suspect vehicle. The truck had reportedly struck a sport utility vehicle and pushed it into another parked vehicle on the same street where Marshall lives. A witness to the crash provided law enforcement with a description of the truck that caused the accident and that description matched the Ford F-350 Marshall had been driving.
A comparison of vehicle parts left behind at the accident scene allegedly matched with parts missing from Marshall’s truck. There were also reportedly broken vehicle parts embedded in the front of the pickup truck that allegedly matched missing parts from the parked sport utility vehicle the truck was suspected of striking.
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Preliminary plea of not guilty entered for Douglas Haas, 66, rural Ossian, charged with operating a vehicle with an alcohol concentration equivalency of .15 percent or more and operating a vehicle while intoxicated endangering a person, both Class A misdemeanors. Bond continued at $1,500.
A sheriff’s deputy was investigating a traffic complaint about a weaving small pickup truck westbound on U.S. 224 from Tocsin when he spotted the 2011 Ford Ranger as it passed 450E. The deputy fell in behind it and started following it, observing it was driving 30 mph-55 zone and weaving within its lane.
After the vehicle turned to head south on Ind. 1, the deputy turned on the emergency lights of his patrol vehicle. The truck reportedly did not stop. The deputy turned on his siren. The truck, reportedly did not stop. A state trooper was following at this point and he also reportedly had the emergency lights of his patrol vehicle on as well.
The driver — later identified as Haas — reportedly finally stopped after turning into his own driveway just south of 500N on Ind. 1.
Haas reportedly smelled of alcohol and appeared intoxicated. He allegedly blew a .276 percent alcohol concentration equivalency on a Breathalyzer test.
There was also reportedly a half-full container of Miller High Life beer in the center console of the truck.
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Preliminary plea of not guilty entered for Mitchell Lee Smith, 29, Bluffton, charged with operating a vehicle with an alcohol concentration equivalency of at least .08 percent but less than .15 percent, a Class C misdemeanor. Bond continued at $500.
Bluffton police received a complaint from a woman in the 600 block of West Ohio Street June 5 that Smith had arrived at the home they shared around 2 a.m., was intoxicated, and awakened her. She just wanted him to leave.
Reportedly Smith admitted to having driven to the residence, had not drank any alcohol since arriving and blew a .127 percent alcohol concentration equivalency on a Breathalyzer test.
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Preliminary plea of not guilty entered for Rachel Thompson, 42, Union City, charged with operating a motor vehicle after having been found to be an habitual traffic violator, a Level 6 felony, and criminal mischief, a Class B misdemeanor. Bond continued at $6,500. Larry Mock appointed public defender.
Thompson is charged with throwing a rock through the window of an apartment in Bluffton June 30, 2020. Thompson, who reportedly knew the couple who lived in the apartment, told the female half she wanted to talk. She implied that she did not mean to break the window of the residence with the rock. She reportedly was crying and appeared upset. She then reportedly said she would take care of the damages to the window, but reportedly never did.
Surveillance video footage allegedly captured images of Thompson exiting and entering a car and driving away but she walked out of view of the cameras when she is alleged to have thrown the rock.
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Preliminary plea of not guilty entered for Dennis James Almeida, 54, Bluffton, charged with possession of methamphetamine, a Level 6 felony; possession of marijuana, a Class B misdemeanor; and possession of drug paraphernalia, a Class C misdemeanor. Bond continued at $18,000. Jeffrey Stineburg appointed public defender.
On May 25, Bluffton police, Bluffton Fire Department first responders and Wells County EMS were dispatched to an apartment in the 1000 block of South Main Street on a report of a man suffering from an overdose.
The man, reportedly, was Almeida.
The investigating officer observed in his report to the court that Almeida appeared to be under the influence of an illegal substance but was refusing to tell emergency personnel what that substance was.
Reportedly in plain sight on a table were two glass tubes containing marijuana and a glass pipe containing a white residue that allegedly field tested positive for methamphetamine.
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Teddy Edward Paul Girton, 19, Rushville, pleaded guilty to identity deception, a Level 6 felony, and operating a vehicle with a Schedule I or II controlled substance or its metabolite in his body, a Class C misdemeanor.
Sentenced to 180 days in the Wells County Jail on the felony and 60 days in jail on the misdemeanor. The terms of the sentences are to be served concurrently. Credited for 18 days spent in confinement awaiting disposition of his case.
As part of a plea agreement, charges of driving while suspended with a prior conviction for the same offense, a Class A misdemeanor; possession of marijuana, a Class B misdemeanor; possession of drug paraphernalia, a Class C misdemeanor; and speeding, a Class C infraction, were all dismissed.
On Sept. 21, 2019, a sheriff’s deputy pulled over a Ford F-150 pickup truck Girton was driving after clocking it at 68 mph-55 zone.
Girton told the deputy he left his identification at the KOA Campground site, but he identified himself as Thomas Stanley. The deputy observed in his report that the interior of the car smelled of marijuana. Girton admitted he had smoked marijuana in the pickup truck earlier in the evening.
The deputy searched the truck and reported finding evidence of marijuana usage. He also found a learner’s permit for Girton with his photo on the permit. The deputy observed the image on the photo and the appearance of the driver of the pickup truck matched perfectly. The deputy confronted Girton about the permit. Girton reportedly continued to insist that he was someone else, but eventually he admitted that he was Girton, not Stanley.
