Lafayette woman charged with three misdemeanors in Nashville
NASHVILLE – A 35-year-old Lafayette woman Jonna Hernandez has been charged with a class A misdemeanor for resisting law enforcement, a class B misdemeanor for possession of marijuana and a class C misdemeanor for possession of paraphernalia.
On Aug. 12, officers were dispatched to the Brown County Inn in reference to a missing woman from Tippecanoe County. According to the report, the Tippecanoe County Sheriff’s Office was investigating the disappearance of Hernandez who was last seen driving a 2016 red Nissan Pathfinder.
Officer Jessica Bolin and sheriff’s deputies Jacob Gibson and Heath Young arrived at the hotel at 7:07 p.m. and were unable to locate the vehicle. According to the report, they ran the license plate through the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles and determined that the vehicle was silver instead.
The Tippecanoe Sheriff’s Department started an emergency cell phone ping on Hernandez’s cell phone and it pinged within a one to two mile radius of the Brown County Inn. The officers allegedly walked the premises and surrounding areas and were unable to locate Hernandez.
Around 8:50 p.m. Bolin was allegedly patrolling Nashville and observed Hernandez’s vehicle with a woman matching her description in the driver’s seat. According to the report Bolin ran Hernandez’s license information through the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles and her information came back on a suspended driver’s license.
Bolin allegedly conducted a traffic stop and advised Hernandez she had stopped her because she was a reported missing person who may be in extreme danger or require medical assistance.
According to the report, Bolin noted a strong odor or marijuana from the vehicle. Indiana Conservation Officer Mike Southerland asked Hernandez if she had illegal substances in the vehicle, she allegedly stated she did not have any in the vehicle but there was marijuana in her purse.
According to the report, Hernandez opened her purse and Young removed a bag of leafy green substance. She allegedly stated her marijuana was legal and requested the officers test it. According to the report, Southerland tested the green leafy substance and it tested positive for THC.
They also allegedly located two glass smoking devices with burnt residue inside it and a grinding device with flaky green plant material.
According to the report, Bolin requested Hernandez to stand up and place her hands behind her as she was being arrested and Hernandez stated she was not going to jail, she refused after being asked again before she started yelling at the officers that she would not be going to jail.
According to the report, Hernandez was placed under arrest and transported to the Brown County Jail. The officers allegedly located an additional small amount of green leafy substance in the vehicle.
Columbus woman charged for possession of fentanyl
NASHVILLE – A 52-year-old Columbus woman Amy Ripberger has been charged with a level 6 felony for possession of a narcotic drug.
On July 5, Police Chief Heather Burris and Lieutenant Mike Horn arrived at the BP gas station for a drug investigation. According to the report Employee Alie Keller found a coin purse in the gas station parking lot on July 4 and they allegedly locked it in the safe until the owner could return for it. An unidentified woman allegedly called the store on July 4 searching for the bag. The same woman allegedly showed up to retrieve it when law enforcement was there, but left the store when Horn mentioned it.
BP Manager Sarah Payton arrived on scene and got the coin purse out of the safe, she gave it to law enforcement and they located 12 individual folded pieces of paper in it.
Payton was able to identify the owner as Ripberger based on video footage and past interactions.
According to the report, Burris and Horn took the bag to the Nashville Police Department where they safely tested the contents to find a white powdery substance suspected to be fentanyl. After testing the powder they were able to confirm that the narcotic was fentanyl.
Horn and Burris watched video camera footage from the store and identified Ripberger.
Crash on Salt Creek Road, vehicle against a tree, smoking
WASHINGTON TWP. – On Aug. 6, Sheriff’s Deputy Zaccary Sheppard responded to a motor vehicle crash at the Salt Creek and Brown Hill roads intersection where dispatch advised a vehicle crashed into a tree with two occupants and was smoking.
According to the report, Sheppard discovered a blue Chevrolet Impala with heavy front damage in the middle of the roadway. Driver Kimber Jaynes was allegedly traveling with her 12-year-old daughter on Salt Creek Road. According to the report, Jaynes glanced at her daughter and felt the steering wheel pull to the left.
They were allegedly heading straight for a tree and Jaynes turned the steering wheel to the right causing the vehicle to hit the tree on the driver’s side.
According to the report, after the crash Jaynes smelled gasoline. She allegedly told Sheppard that her vehicle had been feeling funny and there was an issue with the ball bearings, she also informed him that her insurance lapsed two weeks prior because of a financial bind and she was without insurance at the time of the crash.
According to the report, during the accident the driver’s side tire was completely ripped off and laying in the road.
The vehicle was towed and Jaynes was allegedly issued an information and summons for operating without financial responsibility and having a prior conviction.
Four vehicle crash on State Road 46
WASHINGTON TWP. – On Aug. 9 Sheriff’s Deputy Zaccary Sheppard responded to a multiple vehicle crash on State Road 46 E. at the intersection of Burns Lane.
According to the report Zachary Hysell was driving a 2018 gray Ford F-150 on State Road 46 with two other vehicles in front of him. The first vehicle allegedly stopped to turn on Burns Lane making the vehicle in front of Hysell stop abruptly in the road. Hysell advised that he heard a loud noise behind him and was struck in the rear by a 2012 red GMC Terrain driven by Timothy Berrong as he was trying to go around the stopped cars.
Berrong allegedly stopped behind Hysell and witnessed the vehicle behind him in the rearview mirror slamming on the brakes. The vehicle behind him, a 2019 white Chevrolet Equinox driven by Weigang Wu allegedly missed hitting Berrong initially, but was pushed into his rear when a white 2013 Isuzu box truck driven by Teal Turpin crashed into the rear of his vehicle.
Wu allegedly told Sheppard that the hit was hard enough that his glasses flew off.
According to the report, Turpin said that he saw the cars in front of him stopping so he attempted to stop by locking up his brakes but skidded into the back of Wu’s vehicle. Berrong was allegedly complaining of neck and lower back pain, but the other drivers were uninjured.
