Felony charges filed as result of domestic dispute
BELMONT — A Belmont man has been charged with two counts of battery after an altercation on Dec. 29.
Officer Michael Horn, Deputy Joshua Stargell and Deputy Cecil Martin reported to a disturbance in the 5700 block of State Road 46 West at 8:27 p.m. They found Lee Bowen, 27, standing in a garage with blood on his face, according to the police report. Horn noticed his eyes were bloodshot, his speech was slurred and he had an odor of alcohol about him. Horn asked Bowen what was going on, to which he replied, “I don’t want to talk about it.”
Deputies found a woman bleeding from the head at an address near the garage. She told officers that Bowen walked into the house at around 8 p.m. asking where his mother was. She told him that his mother was not there, and Bowen proceeded around the center island, knocking her to the floor and grabbing her by the hair, pounding her head against the floor, the police report said.
The woman said she began screaming for her teenage son’s help. Bowen continued beating her head against the floor to the point of her hair coming out, the report said. The woman’s daughter reportedly witnessed the entire altercation.
She and her children made a quick exit after her son was able to pull Bowen off her, the report said.
Bowen was charged on Dec. 30 with battery resulting in moderate bodily injury, a Level 6 felony, and battery resulting in bodily injury, a Class A misdemeanor.
Driver charged with 3 misdemeanors, 1 felony
A Brown County man was charged with three misdemeanors and one felony after police say he was driving drunk.
On Dec. 29 at 7:29 p.m., Officer Joshua Stargell pulled over Nicholas Bokich, 32, on State Road 135 North after witnesses reported reckless driving. Stargell noted in his report that Bokich had an odor of alcoholic beverages, slurred speech, red and watery eyes and poor manual dexterity, and that alcoholic beverage containers were in view.
Bokich’s breath test gave a reading of 0.192, more than twice the legal limit, the police report said. A test at the sheriff’s department showed his level at 0.166 at 8:03 p.m., the report said.
He was charged on Dec. 30 with operating a vehicle while intoxicated as a Level 6 felony and as a Class C misdemeanor, as well as Class A misdemeanors of operating a vehicle with an ACE of 0.15 or more and operating while intoxicated — endangering a person.
Traffic stop results in paraphernalia found
Two men were charged with drug paraphernalia misdemeanors after being pulled over for not having working taillights.
Officer Justin Anderson stopped 21-year-old Jacob Ford of Keith Donaldson Road in front of the Brown County State Park north entrance on Nov. 24. Anderson asked for his license, as well as the license of 19-year-old passenger Montgomery Brock. Brock told the officer he lived on Keith Donaldson Road, but his court paperwork lists an address on Forest Hills Drive.
Anderson noticed the smell of marijuana, according to the police report. After processing Ford and Brock through the Indiana Data and Communications System, Anderson returned to the vehicle and asked if there was anything in the vehicle that shouldn’t be. He told Ford and Brock that he could smell marijuana and Ford said that there was very little in the vehicle, the report said.
Anderson searched the vehicle and found a glass smoking device with a green leafy substance that appeared to be marijuana, along with a burnt end of a marijuana cigarette, the report said.
Deputy Kyle Minor stood with Ford and Brock during the search. Minor reported that the passenger provided a THC vape cartridge along with a glass smoking device that had the odor of marijuana emitting from it, and that Brock admitted to using marijuana.
Anderson issued Ford and Brock a summons and citations for the possession of paraphernalia and explained the information for their court dates. Both were charged on Dec. 30 with possession of paraphernalia, a Class C misdemeanor.
New Year’s Day fight leads to 6 misdemeanors
HAMBLEN TWP. — Five county officers and EMS 8 responded to a physical domestic situation on Vaught Road on New Year’s Day, and one woman ended up being arrested and charged with six misdemeanors.
At around 5:14 p.m., Officer Chad Williams responded to a report of a woman who had battered four people after she had been drinking. Dispatch also stated that there were children in the house, according to the police report.
Williams, Deputy Nicholson Briles and Deputy Michael Horn found four adults and a child in the yard. One woman approached Williams, saying that one of the residents of the house, Charlee Hazelbaker, 22, had battered the four adults who were present and had broken items in the house.
All four adults told Officer Williams that Hazelbaker had been drinking all day, leaving with one woman, then returning alone. When she returned, she began to hit, shove and curse at two men and a woman at the house. She broke many items, the report said. The woman who had left with her earlier reportedly returned and tried to calm down Hazelbaker, who then attacked her and tried to jump out a window.
One woman had a bump on her forehead, another had a cut on her arm, and one of the men was hit in the back of the head by an object Hazelbaker threw, the report said. According to the police report, the group restrained Hazelbaker and put her in her bedroom.
Officer Williams asked Hazelbaker what happened; she said she did not know, placed her arms in front of her, and told the officer to take her to jail, the report said. Williams detained her in handcuffs and she later tried to escape the cuffs.
When being placed into the police car for transport to the Brown County Law Enforcement Center, Hazelbaker tried to pull away and resist Williams and Briles, yelling and screaming that she did not want to get into the car, the report said. The jail van was eventually called to take her in.
On Jan. 2, Hazelbaker was charged with three misdemeanor counts of battery, as well as resisting law enforcement, criminal mischief and disorderly conduct.
