Police: Woman stole from store, possessed meth
Police say a Brown County woman stole jeans from the Family Dollar and was found to have methamphetamine in her possession after she was arrested.
Paula Woods, 50, was charged Jan. 6 with possession of methamphetamine, a Level 6 felony; possession of paraphernalia, a Class C misdemeanor; and theft, a Class A misdemeanor.
Nashville Police Officer Abigail Beaver responded to the Family Dollar for a report of a shoplifter on Dec. 20. An employee told Beaver she had checked Woods out, and when she went to leave the store, the alarm at the exit went off. The employee told Woods to stop walking and called police.
Woods told Beaver she only had items that she had purchased. She removed her coat and emptied her pockets when asked. She also took her sweatshirt off, and Beaver reported seeing something in the front of her pants, a probable cause affidavit states.
Woods said it was from her shirt being tucked in, and she tried to turn away from Beaver to pull her shirt out. Beaver reported seeing something rolled and tucked into her pants that was later identified to be a pair of jeans, the affidavit states.
After removing the jeans from her pants, Woods reportedly began begging for a “second chance” and saying that it was too close to Christmas to be arrested. She said she had been dared to steal from the store to “see what happened,” according to the affidavit.
Woods reportedly tried to jerk and step away from Beaver several times while she was attempting to handcuff her. She continued to try and bargain her way out of the arrest. While Beaver was trying to put her in her patrol car, Woods tried to use her body weight to prevent Beaver from sitting her in the seat, the police report said.
Brown County Sheriff’s Deputy Austin Schonfeld searched Woods’ belongings at the jail and reported finding a bag with a white powdery substance inside. It field-tested positive for methamphetamine, the affidavit states. Beaver also reported finding a broken pen in Woods’ purse that appeared to have been used for consuming the drug.
Woods was booked into the Brown County jail. She was released on her own recognizance on Dec. 22.
Report results in drug arrest
BECKS GROVE — A 39-year-old Indianapolis woman was arrested on Jan. 4 after police responded to a report of a suspicious vehicle at the Becks Grove church.
Brown County sheriff’s deputies Colton Magner and Austin Schonfeld reported speaking with Kristy Roberts at the scene, whom dispatch said had an active arrest warrant, according to the probable cause affidavit filed on Jan. 6. She was taken to the Brown County jail.
At the jail, Roberts was found to have a plastic container, a metal tray with burn marks, a cut piece of plastic straw and a syringe with the needle end broken off and residue in the tube, the affidavit states. The items were collected and entered into evidence.
Roberts told Magner that the plastic container was used to store heroin and that the tray was a “cooker” to prepare heroin to be ingested through a syringe. She said the straw piece was used to scoop up the heroin.
She was booked into jail. On Jan. 6, Roberts was charged with unlawful possession of a syringe, a Level 6 felony; and possession of paraphernalia, a Class C misdemeanor.
Driver charged years later for drunken driving crash
Charges have formally been filed against a 68-year-old Nashville man almost three years after police say he crashed his car in Gnaw Bone Creek while intoxicated.
On Feb. 4, 2017, police responded to a crash and reported finding David Fitzpatrick face-down in Gnaw Bone Creek. Brown County Sheriff’s Deputy Chad Williams reported that Fitzpatrick, who was 65 at the time, was traveling east on State Road 46 East when he swerved to miss a large pothole on the road near the bridge west of State Road 135 South.
Fitzpatrick lost control of his vehicle and went off the south side of 46 near the concrete plant. Police found him face-down in water; Williams and Det. Brian Shrader pulled him out, according to the accident report.
A witness reported seeing Fitzpatrick do a U-turn near State Road 135 South, but Fitzpatrick denied that report when police spoke with him at home four days after the crash.
He was taken to Columbus Regional Hospital from the crash scene. A test showed his blood alcohol content to be 0.23, according to the accident report, which is almost three times the legal limit of 0.08. His 2005 Dodge Neon was towed.
In Williams’ probable cause affidavit time-stamped on Jan. 6 this year, Williams reported smelling alcohol on Fitzpatrick, that his speech was slurred and his eyes were bloodshot. A chemical test administered at the hospital showed Fitzpatrick’s BAC to be 0.27, the report said.
On Jan. 6, he was charged with three misdemeanors for operating a vehicle while intoxicated.
Report of stolen money leads to theft charges
HELMSBURG — A Brown County woman faces misdemeanors after police say she stole her ex-husband’s debit card information.
On May 15, Brown County Sheriff’s Deputy Austin Schonfeld responded to a home on State Road 45 after a man reported that Tiffany Colyer, 41, had visited the home earlier that day, according to a probable cause affidavit filed Dec. 27.
The man told police he had checked his account and noticed that there were a number of transactions made without his knowledge. He reported that the money was transferred to an inmate’s phone.
He believed Colyer was responsible because she had reportedly done this before.
Schonfeld made contact with Colyer at a neighbor’s residence. While speaking with her, he reported seeing a PayPal debit card with the man’s name on it. She admitted to taking it from him and the card was returned, the police report said.
Charges were formally filed against Colyer on Dec. 27. She was charged with theft, a Class A misdemeanor.
She was also charged with domestic battery, a Class A misdemeanor, but a probable cause affidavit detailing why she was charged with that misdemeanor was not available from the Brown County prosecutor’s office last week.
