NASHVILLE — A 37-year-old Indianapolis woman, Brittany Humphrey, has been charged with a Level 5 felony for aiding burglary and two level 6 felonies for aiding theft and aiding counterfeiting.
On Oct. 14, a burglary and theft report was made by Susan and David Baker to Sheriff’s Deputy Ethan Morrison. The Bakers reported that a tractor with its attachment and a trailer worth more than $20,000 were stolen from their property on Wychwood Drive. Morrison and Sgt. Zaccary Sheppard met with the Bakers along with a neighbor who lives on Clay Lick Road who had trail camera photos of two men walking past his trail camera toward the Bakers’ house on Oct. 13 shortly after 8 a.m.
According to the report, the suspects entered a barn on the property which is where the tractor was previously located. A bare spot was allegedly visible where the trailer had been sitting outside of the barn and an ATV in a similar area was also moved. The property is currently listed for sale on Zillow, which is how the suspects were believed to have become aware of it.
Chief Deputy Paul Henderson said Flock cameras detected tractor and trailer were being towed — the tractor was on the stolen trailer being pulled by a U-Haul box truck. A forward-facing image showed two men in the truck — identified as Daniel Stricker and Zachary Webster. There was also a woman in the middle of the truck identified as Humphrey, Stricker’s girlfriend. Their identification came from a previous burglary and theft investigation that Sgt. Jacob Gibson has been developing. The license plate on the stolen trailer allegedly belonged to Darrell Ghere, owner of Gnawbone Storage, where Stricker, Webster and Humphrey were all reportedly living in a trailer on the property. When Gibson followed up with Ghere, he found that his trailer plate had been stolen. Ghere assumed Gibson was there to speak with him about a stolen trailer an Ohio State Trooper had called about prior.
According to the report, the Ohio State Trooper pulled over the U-Haul truck and trailer on Oct. 13 as it was being driven by Webster. It was towed because he could not provide information on the vehicle or trailer. Webster was taken to a local gas station to get a ride, but admitted to the trooper that he and his friends had taken a tractor to Morgantown, W.Va., and traded it for a 1966 Ford Mustang. Ghere allegedly believed that the Mustang was in his storage facility, and Stricker was trying to sell it to him, but when they searched for the vehicle, it was gone.
On Oct. 17, Sgt. Jacob Gibson and Henderson went to the storage facility and Webster answered the door. He refused to speak with the officers without an attorney or to divulge his cell phone password. There was a white Ford F-150 backed into the storage garage by the trailer, but Webster claimed he did not know anything about it — it was later discovered to be stolen from Monroe County. Gibson, Henderson and Detective Brian Shrader searched the trailers on the property for VIN numbers but could not locate them, upon further research they found that the trailers were stolen from Bartholomew and Johnson counties.
Humphrey pulled into the driveway at this time and she stated that she did not realize the tractor and trailer had been stolen. She said she rode with Stricker and Webster because she did not want to stay home alone. She did allegedly tell the officers about the trade involving the tractor and Mustang, but could not provide updated locations for the Mustang or Stricker.
The officers later searched her phone and found photos of the Wychwood property inside the barn with the tractor, ATV and other items. In one photo, Webster can be seen photographing the ATV. There were also images of the Mustang.
During their search of the trailer the suspects were living in, Gibson allegedly discovered forged titles to vehicles and trailers were being printed. Humphrey was later located and arrested in Jackson County to be brought back to the Brown County Jail. The Brown County Sheriff’s office said last week the Mustang had been recovered in Jackson County.
Indianapolis man charged with two felonies, two misdemeanors
NASHVILLE — A 64-year-old Indianapolis man, Theopholis Armstrong, has been charged with two Level 6 felonies for operating a vehicle while intoxicated endangering a person and operating a vehicle while intoxicated with a prior. He has also been charged with two Class B misdemeanors for possession of marijuana and leaving the scene of an accident.
On Oct. 19, the Brown County Sheriff’s Office received a call about a silver SUV running over the stop sign at the State Road 46 and Salt Creek Road intersection before continuing westbound on State Road 46 toward Nashville. Sgt. Zaccary Sheppard and sheriff’s deputies Ethan Morrison and Nick Trevino were at a traffic stop at the state park west gate. Trevino left the stop and headed toward town, he advised that the silver SUV passed him traveling toward Bloomington. The silver 2000 Nissan X-terra then passed Sheppard and Morrison’s location. Trevino pulled over the vehicle and the other officers relocated to the area.
The driver was identified as Armstrong from an Indiana Regular Identification Card, upon inspection his driving status came back as suspended.
According to the report, Armstrong admitted to hitting the stop sign when he attempted to turn into the Circle K gas station but missed the turn. He also allegedly stated that he was homeless and believed he was on his way to his hometown of Nashville, Tennessee, from Indianapolis.
While speaking, Sheppard detected the odor of alcohol and noticed Armstrong’s eyes were glossy and his shirt was on backwards. During their inspection, they noticed that the license plate did not match the vehicle and was fictitious. The VIN number returned to the vehicle in Armstrong’s name. Sheppard contacted Nashville, Tennessee, Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Moore to inform him of their findings.
According to the report, Armstrong admitted he did not have car insurance.
The officers searched the vehicle before it was towed and located what appeared to be marijuana and three bottles of Dimitri Gin. Armstrong allegedly admitted to having marijuana in the vehicle, but denied drinking. After authorities ran breath tests, Armstrong allegedly admitted to drinking one pint of the gin found in his vehicle before driving to Nashville.
Morrison and Loncaric transported Armstrong to Columbus Regional Hospital for a blood draw.
