Staff reports
Chase results in crash, felony charge
FRUITDALE — A local man has been charged with a felony from a high-speed motorcycle pursuit that happened in July.
On July 28, two sport bikes driving at speeds of more than 100 miles per hour traveled north on State Road 135 North through Fruitdale, according to the police report.
Officer Josh Stargell pursued one of the bikes, belonging to 22-year-old Austin Wagler of North Oak Ridge Road, after losing the other in the chase. Dispatch had received many calls about races at the same time of night for the previous four days, a police report said.
Stargell followed the bike going near 80 mph on Hornettown Road. Deputy Nicholson Briles and Officer Abigail Beaver assisted Stargell in the chase, according to the report.
Beaver started east on Hurdle Road and found the motorcycle in a grassy field in the 400 block, with Wagler not moving, the report said. EMS was called for assistance. The driver was complaining of pain in his right rib and abdomen.
Wagler told police that he ran because he did not want to be in trouble for speeding and have his motorcycle impounded, the report said.
He would not tell police who the second driver was. Police later identified the other driver from surveillance footage obtained from a Nashville gas station.
EMS took Wagler to Johnson Memorial Hospital. A wrecker took possession of the motorcycle. Wagler’s cellphone was taken in for evidence.
On Aug. 5, Stargell and Deputy William Pool attempted to interview the other driver; he denied the request after being read his rights, as his lawyer was not present, according to the report.
On Dec. 3, Wagler was charged with resisting law enforcement, a Level 6 felony, and reckless driving, a Class C misdemeanor.
Reckless driver report ends in arrest
A Gosport woman was arrested in Nashville on Nov. 7 for possession of counterfeit money after police received a report of a reckless driver.
Nashville Police Officer Keith Lawson reported that the vehicle in question had passed him going south on Hawthorne Drive. When he turned around, the vehicle was in a parking spot at McDonald’s.
The driver, 42-year-old Regina Vaught, told Lawson she had pulled into the parking spot to wait on someone to come pick her and her car up, the probable cause affidavit states.
Vaught told Lawson her license was suspended. Lawson wrote her a citation.
Vaught gave Lawson consent to search her vehicle. He reported finding three $100 bills that looked different and had a different texture compared to the $20 bills that were also in the center console. Brown County Sheriff’s Deputy Josh Stargell assisted with the search and agreed that the bills looked fake, according to the affidavit.
When Vaught noticed that Lawson and Stargell were looking at the bills, she told them she had already called the police about them and was told over the phone a week ago to throw them away, but had not done so yet.
Vaught was arrested and taken to the Brown County jail.
Police: Woman had marijuana in vehicle
A Bean Blossom woman faces two misdemeanors after police stopped her vehicle for failing to use a turn signal and found marijuana and paraphernalia, a report says.
Brown County Sheriff’s Deputy Josh Stargell stopped a van driven by Christina Tharpe, 48, of Bean Blossom Court, after she failed to use a turn signal when turning onto East Main Street from Schoolhouse Lane, the probable cause affidavit states.
While speaking with Tharpe, Stargell reported smelling marijuana. Nashville Police Officer Justin Anderson arrived on scene and also reported smelling marijuana in the vehicle when he asked Tharpe for her insurance information. Tharpe did not have proof of insurance and Stargell discovered her driver’s license was expired, the report said.
Tharpe denied having any marijuana, showing the officers the inside of her purse. Anderson searched the passenger area and reported finding in a storage compartment a metal plate with a small bowl cutout that had marijuana inside. Another smoking device was found with burnt marijuana residue inside, the report said.
Tharpe told officers she received the van in January this year and had not opened that compartment.
Stargell issued Tharpe a summons for possession of paraphernalia and marijuana. She also received citations for failure to signal, no proof of insurance and no valid driver’s license. She was released from the scene.
On Nov. 21, Tharpe was charged with a Class B misdemeanor for possession of marijuana and a Class C misdemeanor for possession of paraphernalia.
Man, woman face charges for marijuana
A man and woman face misdemeanor charges for possession of marijuana after police stopped a truck they were in to report a traffic hazard.
Former Nashville Police Officer Evan Painter responded to a tree hanging across the 2400 block of Helmsburg Road that was on a power pole.
When Painter arrived, the tree was on fire, so he shut down Helmsburg Road. Jackson Township Volunteer Fire Department arrived on scene shortly thereafter and the fire was out in about 30 minutes.
Since it was still unknown if the tree would fall completely on the road, the decision was made to open the road to one lane, the affidavit states. Painter stopped every vehicle driving through to let them know of the potential danger and that if drivers chose to continue through, they should not stop for any reason, according to the affidavit.
One truck did not stop when Painter motioned for them to do so, but it did after he yelled “Hey” at them. When Painter made contact with the driver, 54-year-old William Todd Sullivan of Brown County, he reported smelling burnt marijuana.
He asked Sullivan to pull behind his patrol vehicle and park. Sullivan told Painter there was marijuana inside the vehicle and had his passenger, 48-year-old Alisha Tice of Beech Grove, hand the marijuana over to Painter, the affidavit states.
Painter searched the vehicle. When searching Tice’s purse, he reported finding a vapor pen that had marijuana liquid inside. Sullivan admitted the marijuana belonged to him and Tice admitted the vape was hers.
Painter also reported finding three pill bottles with suspected trace amounts of marijuana inside the truck along with “roaches.”
Tice and Sullivan were both charged on Nov. 21 with Class B misdemeanors for possession of marijuana. Tice was also charged with a Class C misdemeanor for possession of paraphernalia.
Driver involved in crash arrested for OWI
GNAW BONE — A 20-year-old Nashville man was arrested the morning of Nov. 19 for driving a vehicle while intoxicated after police responded to a crash on Brown Hill Road.
The driver, Owen Phillips of Aaron Drive, had run off the road and struck a tree. He was being checked out by EMS when Brown County Sheriff’s Deputy William Pool arrived to assist Nashville Police Department Det. Brian Lucas, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Lucas said that Phillips did not want police involved and just wanted his car towed. Lucas reported that he could smell alcohol on Phillips and in the vehicle. Pool also reported smelling alcohol in the air around and inside the car.
Owen agreed to field sobriety testing. He was doing the horizontal gaze field sobriety test when he stopped it and refused to do it further.
He then agreed to take a chemical test at the Brown County jail, but refused a portable breath test at the scene. At the jail, the certified breath test showed Phillips’ blood-alcohol content to be 0.18 at about 9:53 a.m., which is more than twice the legal limit for a driver.
Phillips was arrested. He was charged on Nov. 26 with three misdemeanors for operating a vehicle while intoxicated.
