Man charged after forging brother’s signature
The Brown County Sheriff’s Department charged a 62-year-old man with obstruction of justice on May 4 after they say he forged his brother’s signature on a letter meant to exonerate him for another crime.
Kenneth Guy, 62, was serving time in the Brown County jail in January 2017 on charges of attempted murder and aggravated battery of his brother, David Guy. David was also serving time in the Brown County jail for narcotics dealing at the time. On Jan. 30 that year, the sheriff’s department was told by attorney Jacob Moore that he had received a letter signed by David that seemed suspicious.
Moore, David’s attorney at the time, was concerned about the letter because it said that David wanted to retract statements made to the district attorney regarding Kenneth’s attempted murder and battery charges. Worried this could affect David’s other cases, Moore confronted him about the letter. However, David emphatically denied ever writing the letter, a police report said.
Det. Paul Henderson became involved when he received the letter from the Brown County prosecutor’s office. The letter, which was written in pencil, was compared to previous letters written by Kenneth to Sheriff Scott Southerland.
Kenneth’s letters were similar to the retraction letter, according to Henderson. The officers noticed similarities between the two, such as that Kenneth’s letters were very heavy-handed and written in dark pencil strokes, same as the retraction letter.
Deputies then compared the letter to one written by David, and noticed that while David always signed his name in cursive, the retraction letter had his name written in print. The letter, which denied Kenneth’s involvement in the altercation, could have only benefited him, according to a report written by Henderson.
Kenneth’s previous court testimonies were also examined. In these testimonies, Henderson said that Kenneth had admitted multiple times to forging his brother’s name.
Henderson filed a probable cause affidavit detailing all the evidence. On June 23, Kenneth, who is currently in prison in Pendleton, was charged with Level 6 felony obstruction of justice.
Local teen involved in one-vehicle crash
BEAN BLOSSOM — Brown County sheriff’s deputies helped move a car from a ditch on June 24 near Gatesville and Bittersweet roads after teen drove off the road and crashed.
Branden Leslie, 18, of Sweetwater Trail, told officers that he was driving west on Gatesville Road when he looked down at his lap for a second. The tires on Leslie’s Blue Dodge Ram pickup truck went off the road and the ditch sucked him off the roadway, officers said in a crash report.
A 16-year-old passenger was laying in the bed of the truck when officers arrived. He had a bloody nose and was complaining that he may throw up, the report said. However, that teen refused to be taken to the hospital and instead was picked up by his mother.
Both occupants were wearing safety restraints during the crash, and Leslie sustained no serious injuries. His 1992 Dodge was towed due to disabling damage.
Nineveh man charged with intoxicated driving
PEOGA — Officers arrested a man on May 15 on Sweetwater Trail after he crashed into a telephone pole on his motorcycle, snapping it in half.
Dusty Phillips, 24, who lives on that road, blew a 0.203 on a portable breath test, almost three times the legal limit for a driver. He told officers that he had been drinking beer and liquor since around 10 a.m., at a friend’s house and then at a pub in Morgantown. After getting a ride home from the pub, Philips decided he wanted to go back out and wanted to ride his Harley to Trafalgar, the police report said.
Officers asked Phillips how the accident happened, and he told them he “was getting on her” and letting the bike rip. He estimated he was going 60 MPH when he left the road and crashed.
Initially, Phillips denied medical assistance and was taken to the Brown County jail, where a certified chemical test showed his blood-alcohol content to be .207. He was then arrested, taken to Columbus Regional Hospital for clearance, then moved back to the jail.
Phillips was charged with operating a vehicle while intoxicated, endangering a person, as well as operating a vehicle with an ACE of .15 or higher, both Class A misdemeanors.
Man arrested for possession of paraphernalia
Nashville Police Department officers cited Darian Mascher, 22, of Franklin on May 13 for possession of drug paraphernalia.
Mascher was driving a dark blue Dodge truck on State Road West when he was pulled over for doing 64 MPH in a 40 MPH zone, a police report said.
Officer Evan Poynter asked Mascher if he had smoked, and he said he and his passenger had smoked a few hours ago. Both men were searched, but neither had anything illegal. Officers then searched the car, finding a socket with burnt marijuana in it, the report said.
Additionally, inside the car, officers reported finding two cut straws with white residue inside hidden inside the floorboards. Both passengers denied any knowledge of the straws. The lab tested the residue of the straws for methamphetamine, which came up negative.
Both men were charged with possession of paraphernalia, a Class A misdemeanor.
Indianapolis woman charged with drunken driving
The Brown County Sheriff’s Department charged a woman with drunken driving violations on June 13 after pulling her over on State Road 46 East.
Stacy Detty, 38, of Indianapolis, was slurring her speech, smelled of alcohol and had red, watery eyes and poor dexterity when pulled over around 8:15 p.m. by Officer Cody Poynter, his report said. A chemical test given at the jail registered at 0.178, more than twice the legal limit for a driver, the report said.
Detty was charged operating a vehicle with an alcohol content of 0.15 or higher and operating a vehicle while intoxicated, both misdemeanors.
Woman charged with multiple misdemeanors
Nashville police arrested a woman on June 12 on charges of drunken driving, marijuana possession and more after she was pulled over on State Road 46 East.
Nashville Police Officer Billy Bryant was driving east on 46 East around 10:45 p.m. when he saw a Dodge Durango driving left of center three times and swerving, his report said. Bryant stopped the car west of Circle K and introduced himself to Misty Doane, 38, of Columbus.
Bryant reported smelling alcohol, but Doane denied having had anything to drink that night. She was given a preliminary breath test, which registered .176, twice the legal limit for a driver.
Before being taken to the Brown County Sheriff’s Office, she asked Bryant to get her purse from the car. While logging the items in her purse, officers reported finding what they believed to be marijuana. Doane confirmed that the purse was hers and admitted to being the owner of the marijuana, the report said.
Doane has been charged with endangering a person by operating a vehicle while intoxicated and driving with an alcohol content of over 0.15, both Class A misdemeanors. She was also charged with possession of marijuana, a Class B misdemeanor.
